Europe could be crushed by Trump’s policies, French PM warns
French Prime Minister François Bayrou on Monday warned that France and Europe risk being dominated, crushed, and marginalised if they fail to counter the policies of United States President-elect Donald Trump ahead of his inauguration.
“The United States, with the inauguration of the president, has decided on a politics that is incredibly dominating,” Bayrou said in the southwestern city of Pau, where he is mayor, highlighting the incoming administration’s policies on the dollar, industry, and investment.
“If we do nothing, then our fate will be simple: we will be dominated, we will be crushed, we will be marginalised. It is up to us, French and Europeans, as it is impossible without Europe,” he added.
Bayrou further noted that Trump’s inauguration forces Europe to confront its responsibilities. He also referenced “the power of China” as a critical factor in global geopolitics.
Before Trump’s second-term election, French President Emmanuel Macron had stressed the importance of Europe achieving “strategic autonomy” by reducing its dependence on the US, particularly in defence.
Appointed by Macron late last year as prime minister to resolve a half-year political crisis, Bayrou, a veteran centrist long known for aspiring to the premiership, has been taking an increasingly assertive stance on both foreign and domestic policies.
Trump is scheduled to be sworn in later on Monday for a historic second term, promising a new “golden age” for the US, as the world braces for the return of his unpredictable leadership.
The most prominent French political figures invited to the inauguration are leaders of the far-right Reconquête! (Reconquest!) party, Éric Zemmour, who garnered seven per cent of the vote in the 2022 presidential elections, and his partner, Sarah Knafo, a Member of the European Parliament.
AFP
