But, instead of celebrating, European leaders are bracing for more serious shocks to the trans-Atlantic relationship in the months ahead. Administration officials have painted European leaders as out of touch with their voters, while promoting far-right and nationalist opposition parties in Germany, France and other countries. Vice President JD Vance’s speech in Munich last February focused on how the U.S. no longer shares values with Europe’s leaders. Already last February, soon after Vance’s Munich speech , an abrupt cutoff in U.S. intelligence sharing with Ukraine jolted many European nations. Trump didn’t impose any new tariffs against Europeans, and they were happy, and he was happy because the market soared.

Source: Wall Street Journal January 24, 2026 07:04 UTC