Overview

• The European Council on Foreign Relations and the European Cultural Foundation published a report Tuesday arguing the Trump administration is deliberately promoting MAGA-aligned narratives in Europe and publicly belittling the EU.
• Authors cite exclusions of EU leaders from Ukraine-related talks, attacks on mainstream European parties, and pressure in trade negotiations as evidence of a strategy to reshape Europe’s political agenda.
• The report highlights the public boosting of rightwing figures such as Viktor Orbán, Giorgia Meloni and Robert Fico, and notes Trump’s White House welcome for Polish presidential contender Karol Nawrocki as an effort to shift Europe’s ideological center.
• Vice President JD Vance’s February remarks in Munich are identified as the moment this contest was openly framed as a values clash focused on issues like free speech, migration and national identity.
• Citing Eurobarometer and ECFR polling, the study says trust in the EU is at its highest since 2007 and urges Brussels to assert autonomy using tools like the Digital Services Act and trade measures.