As 2025 ended, commentators in Europe’s press took stock and concluded that, just twelve months into his second presidency, Donald Trump had not only upended the situation in the US but also in international politics. However, some take hope from the fact that he is not as firmly in the saddle as he pretends to be.
Driven by three obsessions
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Author Alan Friedman complains in Italy’s La Stampa:
The country is led by an autocratic narcissist who puts Putin above everything else and actively supports extremist and pro-Putin leaders in Europe. This presidency is also a gigantic money-making machine. Cryptocurrencies, opaque deals, the interests of the Trump family intertwined with those of Witkoff and Kushner, often disguised as official missions to Gaza, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, or Moscow. Trump is driven by only three obsessions: enriching himself, punishing perceived enemies, and dominating the headlines every day.
Fickleness and lust for power
Europe felt the effects of the US’s rapprochement with Russia in 2025, says Sweden’s Dagens Nyheter:
Europe has never experienced a Moscow-Washington axis before, but it is now a reality. NATO still exists, but one can no longer rely on the transatlantic alliance in a critical situation. In 2025, Europe learnt that the US is no longer our friend. It is an unreliable, fickle, and nuclear-armed giant. It is a country led by a power-hungry and thoroughly corrupt 79-year-old who has no respect whatsoever for the fundamental values of democracy and, moreover, has an “alcoholic’s personality,” to quote Trump’s own chief of staff, Susie Wiles.
Sweden Leads EU Push to Curb Tourist Visas for Russians
Peace cannot be a collateral benefit
Austria’s Salzburger Nachrichten reviews the US President’s peace missions:
It should be noted positively that in some cases Trump has indeed succeeded in bringing conflicting parties to the negotiating table. … But is peace always his ultimate goal? … In many cases, the US President wants to create peace – and gain influence – in places where large deposits of raw materials are found, from the Congo to Pakistan. The flight path of his doves of peace often coincides with the predetermined trade routes and plans for infrastructure projects, as in Armenia. Peace as a collateral benefit? That won’t work.”
Cracks in King Bling-Bling’s realm
Things are by no means looking that great for Trump in the US, notes Switzerland’s NZZ:
The global public is allowing itself to be reduced to a mouse vis-à-vis the snake in the White House – and is losing sight of what is important. Fortunately, cracks are appearing in King Bling-Bling’s empire. His attempts to fly as a dove of peace cannot conceal the fact that things are far from great on the home front. Food prices are rising, approval ratings are dropping, and no one believes the “Joe Biden is to blame for everything” narrative anymore. His Congress only partly supports his divorce from Europe, which has been packaged as a national security strategy. Even his most ardent MAGA followers are now turning away from him.
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