The new old US President Donald Trump has shown that he likes to pursue a pragmatic policy, refracted through the prism of trade relations. This is important for him, but it is a problem for the EU. In Trump's mind, any country or union that has a positive balance with the US falls on the blacklist. He activated the imposition of tariffs as a foreign policy tool. This was stated by the doctor of political science Martin Tabakov on bTV, quoted by novini.bg
"We heard in his opening speech that he would impose tariffs. Here is the first stress test that we need to see - February 1, when he promised to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico. This is important for the EU because it creates a framework within which it will operate in its foreign policy“, he added.
Tabakov commented on Trump's egocentrism, emphasizing: “He would not make a deal with Vladimir Putin that would present him in a weak light. Trump has attributed some of the responsibility for the war to Zelensky. He also said that one way to stop Putin is to impose additional sanctions. His messages are not as consistent as those of Joe Biden.“
He added that progress in the development of the conflict in a peaceful aspect is expected between 100 days and half a year after Donald Trump takes office. “We know what Putin wants, but we do not know what Trump wants. Putin said that in order to achieve peace in Ukraine, the root causes of this conflict must be eliminated - NATO's expansion in Eastern Europe. Here it is important for the American administration to set red lines in front of these ambitions.“
„Greenland is directly related to US security. Thus, a Russian missile can reach US territory. The question is whether the world that is emerging will allow strong countries, simply because they are such, to seize various territories. If such a precedent is created by the US, what is left for other countries?“, the expert also said.
According to him, Trump's foreign policy focus is mainly related to the Western Hemisphere. „Trump sees foreign policy as a clash between strong and weak countries - we are from the group of weak countries, as the object of international processes, not creating them. Regardless of what the relations between Brussels and Washington are, we must preserve our cooperation within the EU, because this is a buffer and guarantee against any alternative influences to which Bulgaria is susceptible.“