Trump-led US culture war presents Europe with pivotal moment: Report

A caller study finds that portion European belonging remains strong, US President Trump’s civilization warfare is attempting to interruption it.

United States President Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) thrust is reverberating successful Europe done a civilization warfare that is being supported by governmental allies, a caller study has found.

The European Council connected Foreign Relations (ECFR) and the European Cultural Foundation (ECF) released a study connected Tuesday connected European sentiment, which recovered that Trump was pushing allies successful European politics.

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However, the consciousness of belonging successful the European Union remains strong. “In respective countries, nationalist and governmental appreciation for the EU is increasing — not needfully retired of idealism, but from a pragmatic content that corporate enactment matters successful a volatile world,” the study found.

“The aboriginal months of Trump’s presidency apt turbocharged this. They look to person clarified the precise values, specified arsenic regularisation of instrumentality and extortion of cardinal rights, that galore citizens privation Europe to embody,” it added.

The study explains that arsenic EU leaders travel unneurotic to solidify a shared identity, Trump is attempting to undermine that done a civilization warfare connected the explanation of the corporate identity.

“These are the high-drama ideological battles implicit migration, climate, ‘wokeism’ and escaped speech. This is the conflict implicit which debates predominate European authorities and the meaning of ‘Western values’,” the study outlined.

Trump and immoderate apical European leaders astatine the White House successful Washington, DC, August 18, 2025 [Alexander Drago/Reuters]

Author of the study and ECFR elder argumentation fellow, Pawel Zerka, said Trump’s civilization warfare connected Europe was astir evident done exclusions from talks connected the aboriginal of Ukraine during the warfare with Russia and ongoing commercialized negotiations.

“Europe has unthinkable strengths that should let it to thrive alternatively than endure successful a satellite bid whose destabilisation has been accelerated by the US president. And the civilization warfare with Trump’s America offers it an accidental to beryllium it,” Zerka said.

However, the study explained that the crushed wherefore Trump tin exploit these ideological battles is that European leaders person “real oregon imagined dependencies connected the US”.

The survey portrayed the EU arsenic the main character, Truman Burbank, of the movie The Truman Show, which tells the communicative of a antheral who is unaware that his beingness is being filmed and televised live.

It argued that, similar Burbank, the bloc spends much of its clip responding to crises orchestrated by Trump than mounting its ain agenda.

Andre Wilkens, manager of the European Cultural Foundation, said leaders needed to deliberation astir the taste attachment to Europe.

“Only past volition leaders of governmental parties beryllium capable to framework their electoral strategies successful ways that respond to people’s genuine attachment to Europe – frankincense limiting the entreaty of Trump’s ideological allies successful their countries,” Wilkens said.