A top mission for Europe’s chief is to cool Trump’s ire toward the EU
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. President-elect Donald Trump is known for grandiose statements, a larger-than-life persona and a fondness for unpredictability. His counterpart on the other side of the Atlantic couldn’t be more different in political style.
The U.S. relationship with Europe will rest in part on whether European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen can cool Trump’s ire toward the European Union. Trump has long assailed the EU.
In 2018, he called it a leading U.S. foe, attacking it for taking advantage of America on trade while depending on Washington for its defense. He is threatening trade tariffs on Europe, cuts in support for Ukraine and a diminished role in its regional security.
With Trump gearing up for his return to the White House, von der Leyen will start her second five-year term at the helm of the EU’s executive body on Sunday. She has been in the job long enough to experience the first Trump presidency, and her team is taking lessons from that time: Expect the unexpected and identify common interests. In her first year in the Commission job—Trump’s last full 12 months in office—the EU landed a tariff-cutting trade understanding with the Trump administration and started a joint dialogue on China, which is seen by both leaders as a potential threat.
Von der Leyen, a 66-year-old former German defense minister who was once seen as a likely successor to former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, never strays from message discipline. Her organized, tight control of the Brussels bureaucracy abhors any hint of chaos. She had sleeping quarters installed in her European Commission office and works around the clock.
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