Donald Trump has once again made it clear: multicultural Europe with democratic values only arouses contempt, at best. For him, the diversity of voices is not a positive thing, but a symptom of “decadence” and “weakness” in a continent that is “self-destructing” because of its tolerance of immigration. At a time when Russian attacks in Ukraine are intensifying and it remains to be decided whether a new phase of negotiations will finally open to end the war, the American president has made it clear that he can withdraw the support he had given to kyiv. And, in Latin America, he warns that he could extend his anti-drug operations to Mexico and Colombia, while reiterating his threats of action on Venezuelan territory.
In a 45-minute interview with Politico, recorded Monday and published this Tuesday, the Republican clearly sets out his vision of the world. And that the aggressive national security strategy his administration released last week is not a flash in the pan, an accident or a poorly written pamphlet that can be ignored. Although it is doubtful whether the US president was directly involved in its drafting, the geopolitical priorities document clearly reflects Trump’s way of thinking.
This strategy guarantees that Europe will face the destruction of its civilization due to massive immigration which, in the opinion of the Republican administration, will have caused the original white population to become a minority in some countries on the continent in two or three decades. He also proposes “cultivating resistance” and supporting political leaders with an ideology similar to that of Trump, while being much less critical of Vladimir Putin’s Russia. He declares Latin America as his top priority and adds that his intention is to exercise hegemony in the region, while reducing the rivalry he had declared in previous editions towards China.
In his statements to Politico, sometimes thin, the American president reserves his greatest criticisms – as in the framework of the national security strategy – for Europe, to the point of insult. “They are weak,” Trump says of the continent’s leaders. Some of them, he says, are “really stupid.” “They want to be politically correct,” he says. “They don’t know what to do… Europe doesn’t know what to do.”
“I have no vision for Europe. All I want is to see a strong Europe,” he says. And he adds: “I’m supposed to be a very intelligent person, I can… I have eyes. I have ears. I know things. I know a lot of things. I see what’s happening. I get reports that you’ll never see. And I think what’s happening in Europe is horrible.”
He emphasizes that he will continue his policy of supporting politicians and parties of his ideological line in Europe. “I would support it,” he confirms. “I have already supported people, even if people that many Europeans don’t like. I supported Viktor Orbán”, the authoritarian Hungarian Prime Minister, whose policy of closing borders he says he admires.
Precisely, he considers the tolerance and benevolent policy towards immigration as what he considers the continent’s biggest mistake: “If it continues on this path, Europe will not be… in my opinion… many of these countries will cease to be viable. Their immigration policy is a disaster. What they are doing with immigration is a disaster. We had a disaster in the making, but I was able to prevent it.” The American gives as an example the alleged chaos generated by immigration in two of the great European metropolises, Paris and London. In the latter case, he is particularly disdainful of the Muslim mayor of the British capital, Sadiq Khan, the son of Pakistani immigrants and whose victory in the elections he attributes to the high number of immigrants. “He was only elected because a lot of people registered. Now they are voting for him,” he says.
Asked if this so-called European trajectory would cause the Old Continent to stop being Washington’s ally, Trump replied: “It depends. They will change their ideology, obviously, because the people who are coming have a completely different ideology. But it will make them a lot weaker.”
Trump often boasts that he has stopped illegal immigration to the United States through a series of rather harsh measures, including extensive raids and mass deportations. His administration has also implemented a series of measures aimed at minimizing legal immigration, through the cancellation of visas, the cancellation of hospitality programs and the imposition of exorbitant costs for certain types of residence permits, among other initiatives.
In the interview, the president also puts new pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to accept the proposed U.S. peace plan, initially drafted with Russian input and modified after meetings with kyiv representatives. The leader of the occupied country insisted that he would not accept any transfer of territory to Russia, as the plan envisages in its first version, which calls into question the possibility of continuing negotiations.
In his statements to the aforementioned media, Trump once again demands that Zelensky – whom he compares to a circus character – agree to cede territories to Moscow, arguing that Russia “has the advantage” and that kyiv must accept it. A comment that will not reassure European leaders who feared that the Americans would abandon the occupied country, which Washington has sworn to support “as long as it takes” during Joe Biden’s mandate.
At the same time that Trump was recording these statements, Zelensky was meeting in London with the leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom and reiterated that he would not give up territory. The American president attacks the ability of European leaders to move towards peace: “They talk, but they don’t do it, and the war goes on and on.”
Concerning Latin America, the American president maintains his threats of attacks against Venezuelan territory and refuses to rule out the possible sending of troops to this Caribbean country: “I do not want to confirm or deny it,” he emphasizes, declaring that he does not want to reveal a military strategy. Asked if he would use force against targets in other countries where drug cartels are established, such as Mexico or Colombia, he replied: “I would.”
His comments came hours before his national security chief, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth; Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chief of Staff Gen. Dan Caine appear before Congress for a closed-door briefing to discuss the situation around Venezuela with lawmakers. The session comes at a time when tensions in the Caribbean are at an all-time high due to the possibility that, as Trump threatens, the United States will end up attacking Venezuela. Washington says its strong military presence in the Caribbean is aimed at fighting drug cartels, but Caracas and many experts and lawmakers consider it an open secret that its real goal is to try to force the downfall of President Nicolas Maduro and the Chavista regime.
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