A different Donald Trump

This time Trump is not surprised by his victory, nor are others surprised by it. Trump is much more prepared to rule with America, but the EU and other partners are also more prepared to live in the era of Trump 2. With Trump, America will not be the champion of freedom and democracy in the world, of political non-interference in the Judiciary, and an opponent of dictatorial and autocratic regimes. But in the meantime, the EU has also clearly lost its role in defending the values ​​on which it was founded.

There is a paradox in Europe after Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential elections. This victory has been enjoyed by those who were anti-American until now. The pro-Russian forces in Europe have been the most happy. And in this case, the pleasure over Trump's victory is shared by both the extreme right in Europe, but also the extreme left. For the extreme right, the reason to be happy is the campaign that Trump is waging against immigrants, against liberal values. The extreme left has been happy about this victory because Trump and his administration have no plan for America's engagement in the world but will be focused on American domestic affairs. And the extreme left has seen all the world's problems through the prism of "American imperialism" just as the extreme right sees problems through the prism of liberal values.

The rhetoric of the President of America sounds like it gives America's previous opponents around the world the right. From what Trump says and what he finds support for in the majority in America, it seems that America has not been great, has not been free, has not been respected in the world, everyone has taken advantage of it, has been naive and poor and has been a country in which elections have been stolen. Now, according to his words, with his inauguration as President, America "is finally free", "will be great", "others will not take advantage of it", "will not be naive" and will use its resources that God has given them. And when it comes to God, he, according to the President, had a hand in his election. The way Trump has survived the assassination has greatly influenced the number of those who believe that God had protected him to take over the leadership of America, to be so large.

But now we have a different Trump than the one who won the election in 2016. That victory was unexpected. And Trump seemed unprepared. He chose his allies quickly, and they changed frequently, leaving him and turning against him. He didn't have much control in the Republican Party. He didn't have the billionaires behind him either, and the traditional media was largely critical of him. Even the Democratic Party in America could say that, even though Trump had won, most Americans had voted against him.

This time Trump has won convincingly, winning both the electoral votes in the individual states, and also winning what is called the popular vote, that is, the entire USA together. The Democratic Party has been outclassed in the elections and has been exposed as incompetent. Until recently, it supported Joseph Biden, even though it was aware that he would have difficulty completing his first term by January 2025, let alone being president for another term until 2029. The Biden administration was also not proven around the world, while the culmination was the shameful withdrawal from Afghanistan, after hundreds of billions of dollars that had been invested to build peace and help in the gradual democratization of this country.

This time Trump is not surprised by his victory, nor are others surprised by it. Trump is much more prepared to rule with America, but the EU and other partners are also more prepared to live in the era of Trump 2. With Trump, America will not be a champion of freedom and democracy in the world, of political non-interference in the judiciary, and an opponent of dictatorial and autocratic regimes. But in the meantime, the EU has also clearly lost its role in defending the values ​​on which it was created. That is why Trump has many more friends in Europe today than he did in 2016. But many of his declared friends in Europe are also friends of Vladimir Putin at the same time.

Trump today has the richest people in the world behind him. It's a wonder how they managed to get rich in such a "poor" America. They also have in their hands the main means of communication, from social networks to traditional newspapers. Something unthinkable has already happened in America, that a serious traditional newspaper is banned from publishing a cartoon.

Trump today is not afraid that he might make a mistake like he did in his first term. He feels very powerful. He will attack and accuse every judge who gives a verdict he doesn't like, he will accuse and rebuke every priest or bishop who doesn't think like him, he will fire every official of any state agency who might think differently, he will eliminate agencies that he thinks are wasting Americans' money. And his new associates, like the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, will insult with the harshest words the leaders of allied countries like the German chancellor and the British prime minister, but they will show respect for real autocrats.

Europe and the world will not have it easy with this Trump. This does not necessarily mean that it will be worse. It could be even better. But one thing is certain, it will not be the same.

If Trump carries out the policy he has been promoting so far, imposing additional customs tariffs on imports of products from Europe, Mexico and Canada, withdrawing America from international agencies and organizations, and reducing its contribution to NATO, a gap will be created that the EU will not be able to fill. And the EU and its member states should have thought about this much earlier. Because, as NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said, “Trump is often absurd and right.” He is especially right when he talks about the very small investments of European countries in NATO for defense. According to the figures mentioned by Rutte, of all total defense investments, more than 60 percent is from the United States of America, while less than 40 percent is from all 31 other member states. And among those 31 countries are also Great Britain, Canada, Turkey and Norway, which are not members of the EU. This shows how little EU countries have invested in defense so far and how illusory it is that the EU can quickly strengthen militarily to replace NATO as the guarantor of security and defense for its citizens without American help. As dramatic as it may sound, there is some truth in Mark Rutte's warning to Europeans to "either invest more in defense or learn Russian or plan to move to New Zealand."

But however weak it is in matters of defense and security, however backward it is in digital development, and however insignificant it is in foreign policy, the EU is a trading superpower. And Trump must also calculate that in a US-EU trade war both sides will suffer heavily. That is why the EU hopes that there will be rationality on the American side and that the partnership that has existed so far will be preserved. After all, without the American role, Europe today would not be free, united and at peace.