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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Europeans, it seems, have figured out how Trump operates.
Last year European leaders hurried back and forth across the Atlantic trying to repair the strained relationship between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. But now they are learning not to pay attention to the provocations of the American leader, instead of flitting about and trying to minimize damage as quickly as possible, writes Politico contributor Jamie Dettmer.
After the clash between Trump and Zelenskiy in the Oval Office, then-Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron tried to arrange a telephone call between them.
Likewise, after Trump’s August summit with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in Alaska, Starmer and his security adviser Jonathan Powell worked intensively with other European leaders to salvage Kyiv–Washington relations. They even devised a cease-fire plan and won U.S. support. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also pressed hard.
But this time, after Trump announced a controversial deal with Russia on diesel fuel and effectively urged Zelenskiy to resign, Europe’s response was less volatile. Of course, Europeans voiced Kyiv strong rhetorical support and announced new sanctions against Russia, but there were no panicked appeals to Trump to help resolve the situation quickly.
Why? Because the shock effect from Trump is weakening, says former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
“The main reason is that they have grown used to him. They have all developed an ‘immunity’ and no longer feel the fear they did last year,” Kuleba said.
“Another reason is that they are sinking in their own problems. I think, first of all, they believe they need to try to understand how Trump’s actions will affect them and how big their own ‘bill’ will ultimately be,” he added.
European leaders are not flustered as they were last year because Trump is “losing his leverage,” noted Italian opposition Democratic Party deputy Lea Kvartapelle.
“We realize that he cannot be trusted and that we must rely only on ourselves,” she added.
As former senior American diplomat Daniel Fried acknowledges, the more restrained reaction to Trump’s maneuvers draws attention.
“It seems Europeans have already figured out how Trump operates. They want to avoid the worst and seek to minimize damage over the next two years while Trump is in office. They are cooperating with those Trump administration officials with whom this is possible. And such people exist,” Fried said.
In his view, Europeans now understand that a significant portion of Trump’s actions are merely performative and short-term, including the diesel fuel deal with Russia, which will not last long.
“I doubt anything will come of it, since the deal is utterly impractical and legally dubious, and it is unclear whether the Russians can actually supply diesel fuel,” he said.
Fried noted that in conversations with European leaders and officials he has noticed growing frustration with the overall inconsistency of the U.S. position.
“Trump wants Europe to do more militarily, but at the same time for it to buy American. Yet we cannot arrange sales to Europeans around our own needs, so they will have to wait, although they cannot produce it themselves. But they must bear the burden in Ukraine without us. It’s completely inconsistent, and that annoys them,” he said.
There is also weariness among Europeans that Trump manipulates them, Fried added.
“One thing they try to avoid is a situation where Trump clicks his fingers and they fly over immediately. Then it looks as if they are arriving at Trump’s beck and call and begging him, which they do not want. Moreover, if they come and persuade him to agree to something, how long will that agreement last?” Fried added.
Of course, Europeans can also console themselves with the high likelihood that Trump will change his position.
“There is a certain pattern. He launches a cavalry attack and then retreats. This is exactly what we saw in February last year. This is what we saw in November 2025. And this is what we will see this time as well,” Kuleba said.
Meanwhile, the Financial Times yesterday reported that the EU plans to urge Zelenskiy to soften his increasingly sharp rhetoric toward Trump, fearing that such rhetoric only worsens the situation. Perhaps that is true, “but not necessarily to say it out loud every time,” said a European official commenting on Kyiv’s public rhetoric to the publication.
European leaders are forced to take such an approach because of the instability of transatlantic relations and persistent Russian attacks amid the recent tensions between the United States and Ukraine. Any harsh statements could adversely affect the allocation of financial aid and the supply of weapons.
About how the United States is gradually reducing its role in European security and how the balance of power is changing, Alexei Izhak previously discussed in the article 'America Retreats: Who Will Defend Europe Tomorrow'.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Ефект шоку від Трампа слабшає: європейські лідери звикають до провокацій з боку президента США — Politico". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: ZN.ua.
