December 15, 2018

British Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have all tried, and often failed, to curb what they see as President Trump’s worst instincts toward nationalism and isolationism — viewing themselves as a bulwark against a U.S. president who doesn’t share their belief in international cooperation.

Now each of these European leaders has been politically weakened at home by ripples of those same forces in their own countries. This has left the “Big Three” of Europe with even less leverage in their diplomatic and trade disputes with Trump, who has cheered for Britain’s divorce from the European Union and blamed Macron and Merkel for bungling their responses to populist tides.

This new dynamic combined with Trump’s own inward focus as he looks to reelection and the uncertain outcome of the special counsel investigation is leading analysts to predict further drift and disagreement between the United States and its closest trans-Atlantic allies with each of the four leaders expected to view the world more through the domestic threats they face than the foreign policy challenges they share.

Read more:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/domestic-problems-leave-leaders-in-britain-france-and-germany-on-weaker-ground-with-trump/2018/12/14/ac74ed64-ff20-11e8-83c0-b06139e540e5_story.html?utm_term=.970db27167ac