Europe Shaken by Trump’s First 100 Days: “We’ve Never Seen Anything Like This”

As Donald Trump began his second term in office, Europe found itself facing rising tension, economic disruption, and political uncertainty. His first 100 days have deeply unsettled transatlantic relations — and the EU is struggling to adapt to the new reality.

Chaos from Washington Alarms European Leaders Leaders in Brussels, Berlin, and across Europe admit that Trump’s behavior is utterly unpredictable. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas described the current situation as "very intense" and "disruptive." “We’ve never experienced anything like this,” she told CNBC.

💥 Trade War Tensions: Europe Loses Its Footing Immediately after returning to the White House, Trump imposed a 20% tariff on all EU exports. Though the measure was later reversed, and talks resumed, duties on steel, aluminum, and automobiles remain in place. The EU had prepared countermeasures but paused them when Trump backed down. Yet, the damage lingers — and economic uncertainty is weighing on growth.

📉 ECB Warns: Trade Chaos Threatens the Economy At the IMF and World Bank spring meetings, European Central Bank (ECB) representatives voiced their concerns.

Robert Holzmann, governor of Austria’s central bank, said Europe hasn’t faced this level of uncertainty “in years.” “Until the situation stabilizes, we’ll have to postpone key decisions,” he warned.

💬 A Stark Comparison: “Feels Like the Early COVID Days” Klaas Knot, head of the Dutch central bank, compared the current state of affairs to the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Unpredictable U.S. tariff policy is clearly a strong drag on growth in the short term,” he said.

🔁 Not Everyone Sees an Immediate Crisis Germany’s acting finance minister Joerg Kukies offered a more measured view. While acknowledging the deterioration in relations, he said it would take much more to cause a complete collapse of trust between the U.S. and Europe.

⚔️ Ukraine in Limbo: U.S. Policy Shift Raises Alarms Trump’s ambiguous stance on Ukraine adds another layer of uncertainty. During his campaign, he promised to end the war “in a single day.” That rhetoric has since softened, but no clear policy has followed. Europe is concerned. Kallas admitted that while the EU can handle financial support for Ukraine, military capabilities depend heavily on the U.S. “I hope the U.S. stays on the right side of history,” she said.

🕊️ Brussels Rethinking Its Strategy The EU is now re-evaluating how to move forward if Washington pulls back from its commitments. Kallas added that pressure on Russia must increase to get even close to peace talks. With the U.S. sending mixed and inconsistent signals, Europe is forced to rethink its own defense and diplomatic strategy. In this new era of unpredictability, it may need to stand more on its own.

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