European leaders who understand their continent's history must now recognise that Donald Trump is siding with the forces of tyranny, writes Rafael Behr. The US president's second term has brought fresh threats to old alliances, including a demand to annex Greenland and a social media rant against the UK's Chagos Islands deal.
Angela Merkel, former German chancellor, had warned in 2018 that politicians had 'sleep-walked' into the first world war. She urged leaders to learn from history. Eight years on, Vladimir Putin harries Europe's eastern flank while Trump threatens to expand US territory. Behr argues that the lessons of the 20th century have not been internalised.
Merkel advocated 'strategic patience' with Trump, but his intemperance outlasted her. Keir Starmer, now facing tariff threats for supporting Denmark over Greenland, called for calm diplomacy. Trump repaid him with an unhinged rant, labelling the Chagos Islands sovereignty transfer an act of 'great stupidity'.
Behr contends that no appeal to liberal principle or multilateral collaboration can compete with Trump's instinctive affinity with despots. The president sees no boundary between his ego and the nation, and will not submit to any external authority or moral code. The benefits of a rules-based order cannot match the gratifications of monarchical vanity.
The spectre of global lawlessness holds no menace to a ruler confident of supremacy in a world where might makes right. Merkel's warnings about the perils of national egoisms have no meaning for Trump, who treats defiance of his will as despicable as terrorism.
