Politico: A new sport has been discovered - who gets to...

The first communication of its kind did not go well, and after a heated phone conversation with Trump, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen quickly left for a European tour to gain support from Berlin, Brussels and Paris regarding the US intention to take control of Greenland.Other leaders fear that Trump could impose punitive tariffs on them, according to Politico.European politicians lined up to reach the new US president and explain to him why they should be the ones to explain EU policy to him.The list of invitees to the inauguration suggests, however, that Trump&#39;s camp is closer to some far-right politicians than to mainstream national leaders.The right-wing Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who became the only leader from the EU invited to Trump&#39;s inauguration, was in the front row, and even before that she had a cordial meeting with him at the opening of the renovated Paris Cathedral of Notre Ladies in December.Then there&#39;s the private meeting earlier this month at Trump&#39;s Mar a Lago residence, when he called Meloni a fantastic woman and helped secure the release of an Italian journalist imprisoned in Iran.According to Politico, it remains to be seen how deep her ties with Trump really are, and a negative point could be that she maintained close relations with the administration of former President Joseph Biden.Another minus is the allocation of funds for Italian defense, which is below two percent of GDP, and will further decrease this year, which is significantly less than the five percent that Trump wants European countries to spend on the defense sector.Another candidate for the US president&#39;s favorite European leader is Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb&aacute;n, who was invited to Mar a Lago twice in 2024, and in previous years has also lavished praise on Trump.The US leader responded by frequently mentioning Orb&aacute;n in his speeches, even calling him a &quot;great man&quot;.The Hungarian official&#39;s pro-Russian and pro-Chinese policy could, however, significantly reduce his popularity with Trump, Politico estimates.In addition, Orb&aacute;n publicly rejected the demand that EU countries spend five percent of GDP on defense.&quot;The question of whether you will become a bridge between the US administration and the EU is only relevant if the US is looking for such a bridge, which cannot be taken for granted,&quot; said Hungarian Minister for EU Affairs, J&aacute;nos B&oacute;ka.Former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki also offered himself the role of mediator between Europe and the US, who told Politico in December that he, along with Meloni, was the ideal person for that.This statement earned him an invitation to Trump&#39;s inauguration, and Morawiecki published a photo of himself in the company of the president and vice president JD Vance, commenting that the winds of change are blowing faster in the direction of Poland.There is also Polish President Andrzej Duda, who is among the European leaders that Trump knows best, having met with him several times in his first term.Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk is an unlikely candidate to be close to Trump due to ideological differences, while Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has a better chance and was one of the first European foreign ministers to speak with Marco Rubio after he was confirmed as US Secretary of State.As Politico writes, it also helps that Poland is on track to meet Trump&#39;s demand that European countries should spend five percent of their GDP on defense.One of the right-wing people close to Trump is the leader of the British Reform Party, Nigel Farage, who celebrated the president&#39;s victory at the Villa Mar a Lago on election night, and also joined his inauguration.As Politico points out, their policies are very similar, but it does not work in Farage&#39;s favor that he is not the head of state or government, and that he comes from Great Britain, which is attracting less and less attention from Trump.Another member of the extreme right who has a close relationship with Trump is the Frenchman &Eacute;ric Zemmour who announced in 2022 that he was receiving political advice from the man who would later become the 47th president of the USA.At the time, Trump&#39;s popularity was very low, but Zemmour paid no attention, and his loyalty and respect was rewarded with an invitation to the inauguration on January 20.An official who could be among the candidates to become one of Trump&#39;s advisors is NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who was the Dutch Prime Minister for 14 years.He is the man Trump is relying on to persuade the Europeans to spend more on defense.The Dutchman accepted the role with gusto, and he told the Europeans that Donald was right in his demands, warning them that Russia might come knocking on their door if they didn&#39;t listen.Rutte is also among a handful of European officials invited to Mar a Lago.When it comes to French President Emmanuel Macron, his relationship with Trump is based on the &quot;hot-cold&quot; principle, so he first hurried to congratulate him on his election victory, but he also warned that Europe should start showing its muscles in order to earn the respect of the new president of the USA.Macron did not receive an invitation to the inauguration, but insiders suggest that Trump&#39;s decision to attend the opening of the renovated Notre Dame cathedral is a sign that the French leader has influence with the new US administration.Trump likes to point out that he dragged Macron into the growing trade war, and since the American leader will pay even more attention to loyalty in his second term, it is unlikely that the French president has the right recipe for success, Politico estimates.A candidate for closeness with Trump is the leader of the German conservatives, Friedrich Merz, who is on his way to becoming the leader of the most powerful European economy, which would make him the most natural interlocutor of the US president.Merz himself said last week that Germany must take the lead in negotiations with Trump.As he stated, this would be possible if Germany would buy F-35 fighters from the US, but maintain them at home and build the necessary factories.Since Trump loves power, and Merz could easily become the most powerful European politician on February 24, he would be an adequate interlocutor.Finally, among those who hope for a closer relationship with Trump are the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, then the High Representative of the EU for foreign policy, Kaja Kallas, and the head of the European Council, Antonio Costa, who are at the top of the European institutions.As Politico writes, however, they are at the bottom of the group of potential foreign partners with Trump.Commenting on Trump&#39;s preference for national leaders and not the EU, one European diplomat said that the US president has clearly shown that he wants to create bilateral relations.&quot;It may be a negotiation tactic, since he knows that when it comes to trade, he will have to deal with the EU, but that is potentially problematic,&quot; the diplomat concluded.

Politico: A new sport has been discovered - who gets to...

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