By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-11-15 06:09:51 | Updated at 2024-11-22 16:16:09
1 week ago
A week after Donald Trump’s stunning US presidential re-election, anxiety at the prospect of being swept up in a geopolitical storm is racing through Europe.
Brussels is nervously looking for signals as to how exactly Trump’s campaign-trail bombast may translate into reality.
He pledged at rallies to end the war in Ukraine quickly, leaving European capitols harbouring doubts as to how fair such a deal would be for Kyiv. He also vowed to impose blanket trade tariffs on goods imported from Europe – and everywhere else.
As Trump began to announce his picks for cabinet and White House posts this week, Europe’s dread deepened. Early nominations such as US Senator Marco Rubio for secretary of state and Representative Mike Waltz for national security adviser were at least seen by European officials to be sensible, and gave some a sense of relief.
On the other hand, the selection of former Democratic representative Tulsi Gabbard to be director of national intelligence, overseeing all US intelligence agencies including the CIA, NSA and FBI, was greeted with shock and alarm.
Not only is Gabbard inexperienced in the field, but she has been accused of parroting Kremlin talking points, stoking suspicions that Trump intends to abandon Ukraine and force it into a peace deal with Russia.
