Eurotopics: Trump’s Team – What Does It Mean for Foreign Policy?

Donald Trump’s first key pick after being elected US president foreign policy Positions have been determined. Former military and Fox News host Pete Hegseth is slated to head the US Department of Defense, while Marco Rubio is being discussed as the next Secretary of State and Mike Waltz as the new National Security Advisor. Both are considered hardline towards China and critical of current policy towards Ukraine. The European press gets involved.

Washington prefers aggressive approach

For 444.hu (Hungary), the team structure points in a very specific direction:

“Donald Trump’s personnel decisions, leaked on Tuesday morning, are a relatively clear indication of Washington’s priorities for the coming years: subordinating everything to an aggressive approach towards China, a quick ceasefire in Ukraine and absolute support for Israel. This may be good news for both Jerusalem and Moscow, but it also shows that the goal is not US isolation in the traditional sense, but selective isolationism at best. “Overall, the aim may be a power policy that would lead to further increases in US military spending.”

Moves that should not be taken lightly

The Süddeutsche Zeitung (Germany) sees an example in Trump’s first personnel decisions:

“This is not a purely isolationist group, but a team of interventionist hawks. Marco Rubio is considered the inventor of the siege policy Chinese. Michael Waltz, who is expected to be the next national security adviser, will also ban any signals of weakness from the United States. Russia. However, it is too early for Europe to draw any reliable conclusions from these personnel decisions; But Trump may have been underestimated once again.”

Other Matters of Interest

While Trump’s win caused alarm about Ukraine, Brussels winked

The trip comes as Trump’s election victory and the political crisis in Germany raise fears about the future of aid to Ukraine, which is at a key point in the fight against the Russian invasion.

Post-war alliances face collapse

El País (Spain) expresses its fears:

“Trump’s second presidency has the potential to trigger a true geopolitical revolution. Nothing is certain, but indications are that this will have a profound impact on international relations. … There are four conflicts in which this impact could be far-reaching and lasting. Two of these are full-scale wars (Ukraine and the Middle East), and the other two are potential conflicts (Taiwan and Korea). … There are concerns that Trump will not surround himself with representatives of the Republican establishment who previously restrained his instincts. … This time it seems more likely that the network of alliances that the United States established after 1945 will be deeply broken and the geopolitical landscape will be permanently changed.”

Jokes about the fate of Ukraine

La Stampa (Italy) warns:

“Nearly all of the candidates for key positions in US diplomacy and security policy either voted in Congress earlier this year to block military aid to Kiev or opposed supporting Ukraine. Rumors about what Trump wants to do stem from Elon Musk’s tweets, videos posted by Trump’s son, TV interviews with advisers (which were quickly denied), and media accounts of phone calls with the Kremlin (which were quickly denied). … There is speculation about the fate of Ukraine and Europe through jokes made in front of the cameras and on social media.”

A real problem for Europe

Lidové noviny (Czech Republic) suspects that events will develop as follows:

“We can assume that the Trump administration will press for a peaceful solution through territorial concessions to Russia. The possibility of freezing the front line seems very likely here. … With this solution, Europe will fundamentally lose. The ceasefire will start the countdown, giving Russia the time it needs to regroup before it can launch a direct attack on one of the NATO countries. “Poland and the Baltic states are obvious options here, but aggression elsewhere, for example in the polar regions or in Romania via Moldova, cannot be ruled out.”

Will Putin be drawn into the oil price trap?

In a post on Facebook, political scientist Abbas Gallyamov (Russia) predicts that Trump will get closer to Russia but will destroy Russia economically:

“If Americans increase oil production, will this be ‘Russophobia’? … So what can Putin do about it, even if he gets angry? … A trap looms on the horizon: The end of the ‘special military operation’, combined with low oil prices, will pose major domestic risks for the Russian Kremlin. When the victory fireworks are extinguished and the vodka has been drunk, it will become clear that there is not much to bite; “Low hydrocarbon prices do not leave much room for maneuver.”