EU on tenterhooks ahead of US election: What kind of America will the EU face?

Ask just about any EU leader who they want to win the US election on November 5, and you will hear a politically correct answer along the lines of “We will work with any US president to develop transatlantic ties”. However there is little doubt that many of them will be privately relieved if Vice-President Kamala Harris wins. She has drawn a clear line from her opponent, former president Donald Trump, on US engagement with the world and particularly on support for Ukraine. But it is not as if the current Biden-Harris administration has always been smooth for Europe: for example, the US Inflation Reduction Act and President Joe Biden’s AUKUS pact with the UK and Australia have created tensions. If Trump does indeed defeat Harris in November, could the EU still work out some sort of arrangement with him? We put this question to two MEPs.

Oct 25, 2024 - 23:02
EU on tenterhooks ahead of US election: What kind of America will the EU face?
Ask just about any EU leader who they want to win the US election on November 5, and you will hear a politically correct answer along the lines of “We will work with any US president to develop transatlantic ties”. However there is little doubt that many of them will be privately relieved if Vice-President Kamala Harris wins. She has drawn a clear line from her opponent, former president Donald Trump, on US engagement with the world and particularly on support for Ukraine. But it is not as if the current Biden-Harris administration has always been smooth for Europe: for example, the US Inflation Reduction Act and President Joe Biden’s AUKUS pact with the UK and Australia have created tensions. If Trump does indeed defeat Harris in November, could the EU still work out some sort of arrangement with him? We put this question to two MEPs.