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EUROPEAN COUNCIL: Leaders Meet With 2nd Trump Presidency The Main Talking Point

EUROPEAN COUNCIL

EU member state leaders hold an informal meeting in Budapest, Hungary today where they will try to agree on a joint communique.  As was the case with the European Political Community meeting on 7 Nov, the looming second Trump presidency will dominate conversations. Trump's well-publicised comments regarding Europe paying for its own defence will place pressure on EU budgets, while the president-elect's tariff plans threaten major upheaval for those European industries reliant on US demand. 

  • Comments from a Trump campaign team member reported by the WSJ on 7 Nov highlighted the major shift in stance the US could take, resulting in a significant increase in pressure on EU member states to boost military spending. “We can do training and other support but the barrel of the gun is going to be European,...We are not sending American men and women to uphold peace in Ukraine. And we are not paying for it. Get the Poles, Germans, British and French to do it.”
  • The concerns surrounding Trump's tariff plans will also feed into talks on EU competitiveness. Former Italian PM and ECB president Mario Draghi will be in attendance to discuss his competitiveness report for the Union. On 7 Nov, French President Emmanuel Macron claimed that The world is made up of herbivores and carnivores. If we decide to remain herbivores, then the carnivores will win and we will be a market for them...I think, at the very least, we should choose to become omnivores.” 
  • Post-meeting presser at 1530CET (0930ET, 1430GMT). Livestream here
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EU member state leaders hold an informal meeting in Budapest, Hungary today where they will try to agree on a joint communique.  As was the case with the European Political Community meeting on 7 Nov, the looming second Trump presidency will dominate conversations. Trump's well-publicised comments regarding Europe paying for its own defence will place pressure on EU budgets, while the president-elect's tariff plans threaten major upheaval for those European industries reliant on US demand. 

  • Comments from a Trump campaign team member reported by the WSJ on 7 Nov highlighted the major shift in stance the US could take, resulting in a significant increase in pressure on EU member states to boost military spending. “We can do training and other support but the barrel of the gun is going to be European,...We are not sending American men and women to uphold peace in Ukraine. And we are not paying for it. Get the Poles, Germans, British and French to do it.”
  • The concerns surrounding Trump's tariff plans will also feed into talks on EU competitiveness. Former Italian PM and ECB president Mario Draghi will be in attendance to discuss his competitiveness report for the Union. On 7 Nov, French President Emmanuel Macron claimed that The world is made up of herbivores and carnivores. If we decide to remain herbivores, then the carnivores will win and we will be a market for them...I think, at the very least, we should choose to become omnivores.” 
  • Post-meeting presser at 1530CET (0930ET, 1430GMT). Livestream here