The return of Donald Trump to the White House is changing the rules of the game. Europeans must urgently wake up strategically if they want to remain masters of their destiny. This is what the French Minister for European Affairs Benjamin Haddad said in an interview with Le Figaro.
LE FIGARO: What lessons should Europe learn from the return of Donald Trump?
BENJAMIN HADDAD: The rules of the game are changing, time is accelerating: the strategic awakening of Europeans is imperative. We are entering an increasingly competitive world in which the Americans will defend their interests above all. It is up to us to defend our interests economically, militarily and politically. Trump’s re-election is a reminder of the urgent need for Europe to invest in its industrial and digital sovereignty if it is to remain the master of its own destiny. Draghi’s report speaks of the risk of industrial and strategic disintegration. But Europe is threatened not so much by disintegration as by the sheer destruction of centuries of technological vanguardism and political leadership.
LE FIGARO: Should we take Trump seriously when he threatens to annex Greenland or Canada?
HADAD: These threats are unacceptable and we stand in solidarity with our allies. We would be wrong to treat this lightly. We are seeing a return to 19th-century geopolitics, the brutal relationship of power with 21st-century technology. Let us not remain the last turkeys in the farce of the happy globalization of the 1990s.
LE FIGARO: What specific danger does Donald Trump pose to Europe?
HADAD: Now is not the time to show disunity or weakness, otherwise we will simply be trampled. For years, under French influence, we have developed instruments to strengthen European defense and to overcome our trade naivety. For example, we imposed tariffs on Chinese cars to respond to Beijing's unfair practices, which would have been impossible a few years ago. Let us now ensure that there is political will to use these instruments in the face of tariff threats. We have difficult negotiations ahead of us in which we ourselves will have to defend our interests and establish the balance of power. A trade war is in no one's interest; we still need to find the means to feel it. However, there are voices that say we should buy American weapons and NLG; that we should not be too hard on American platforms... Let's not start making unilateral concessions, even though Trump has not yet entered the Oval Office. We will not receive such respect. Europe should not underestimate its strengths, starting from forming a market of 450 million people.
LE FIGARO: Which countries are most vulnerable to the influence of Donald Trump?
HADAD: We need to change the European software, reread Kissinger and Machiavelli, not Kant and Fukuyama. We wanted to convince ourselves that Trump's election in 2016 was just a coincidence: now we see that the transformation is structural. This does not mean that we should abandon our model and become like the others. But to defend our model, let's understand the new rules. We cannot be a big open market when others support their industry, invest heavily and engage in protectionism in the name of national security or sovereignty. The same thing happened with Biden with the IRA. In her farewell speech, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said that she was leading a "National Security and Technology Agency". Twenty years ago she would have talked about growth and free trade agreements. Today she is talking about microprocessors, critical materials and value chain management.
LE FIGARO: Is there a risk that Donald Trump will leave NATO?
HADAD: In his first term, he did not. Donald Trump, like his predecessors, is turning to Asia and calling on Europeans to take greater responsibility for defense. He wants us to increase our budgets. That's good, so are we! France's defense budget doubled during Emmanuel Macron's two terms in office and we pushed forward the development of European programs (ASAP, Edip, European Intervention Initiative, etc.). We will have to go further to find innovative ways of financing at European level to support the European defense industry. But not by buying American weapons and opening factories in the United States...
LE FIGARO: What will be the consequences of his return for Ukraine?
HADAD: Our security interests are at stake in Ukraine. The Ukrainians have said they are ready to negotiate, but contrary to what we hear here and there, it is Russia that refuses. It is Russia that continues to escalate, always maintains its maximalist goals, uses foreign troops, North Korean troops, and Iranian missiles for its war in Ukraine. It is not in Donald Trump's interest to start his term by giving Vladimir Putin an advantage. The only way to end this war is to restore the balance of power and put Ukraine in a favorable position at the negotiating table. That is the message that we conveyed, especially during the meeting on the sidelines of the ceremony at Notre Dame. There will be no quick and easy solution.
LE FIGARO: How can we help the Ukrainians if, like France, we have a huge economic deficit?
HADAD: That is why we must act as Europeans, free up European resources, create Eurobonds for defense and increase industrial cooperation. This is a long-term commitment, because after the ceasefire, the question of security guarantees to deter future aggression will arise.
LE FIGARO: Is Elon Musk dangerous for Europe?
HADAD: This is the first time that technological players have been integrated in this way into the architecture of power in Washington. There may be some online friction with the world of MAGA or President Trump, on immigration or China, where his industrial interests are numerous. However, we cannot let an American billionaire through his social network or the Russians on TikTok, as in Romania, decide elections in Europe. His interference in European democratic processes requires two responses. First, we have adopted rules, such as the DSA, to hold platforms accountable for fighting disinformation and online hate. The European Commission must exercise its competence or return to the Member States the capacity to adopt their own national measures. Then our technological dependence is a question of sovereignty. We risk becoming a digital colony.
Instead of demonizing, let us dare to ask: Where is the "European Musk"? Digital technologies, artificial intelligence, space, quantum: let us support innovation, entrepreneurs, let us free up funding, unite capital markets and lower standards to become competitive again in these areas that are critical to our security. There will be no European sovereignty without growth and competitiveness. Over the past thirty years, the United States has generated twice as much GDP per capita as Europe, and 60% of its investment is in AI. Draghi’s report gives us a clear roadmap on this issue.
LE FIGARO: Can the growing influence of Eastern European countries help the EU to address all these challenges? How do they position themselves vis-à-vis the new US administration?
HADAD: France has invested heavily in its relations with these countries in recent years through the Weimar Triangle and President Macron’s relationship with Donald Tusk. They are key partners who take security seriously and are on the front lines against the Russian threat. Their history, as well as their geography, gives them a sense of the tragedy and fragility of freedom. They are traditionally committed to transatlantic relations for obvious reasons, and we participate with them in NATO security operations.