America First doctrine and threat of tariffs leave EU elite wondering how it can close economic gulf with US. In the bars, hotels and windowless conference halls of the World Economic Forum in Davos, two themes dominated the conversation: America’s ascendancy and Europe’s decline.
![[Donald Trump speaks via video link to the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/a923b48ec02ed3a8435c6282eb8c87ee14031724/0_0_6000_3600/master/6000.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
If the scale of the continent’s problems was unclear before politicians and chief executives descended on the Swiss ski resort, there was no ambiguity by the time Donald Trump had finished speaking. The 47th president of the US beamed via video into a packed conference hall to rail against stifling European regulation, car exports flooding to the US and fines and penalties on Apple, Google and Facebook.
![[European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen speaks]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/f6e23cd998f11d143be46b8b03d9580d66834b8b/0_304_5108_3067/master/5108.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
No longer will members of Nato be able to freeload off America’s security guarantee, he added, demanding they increase defence spending to 5% of GDP – a barb aimed squarely at Europe. “From the standpoint of America, the EU treats us very, very unfairly, very badly,” he said. “We have some very big complaints with the EU.”.
![[The logos of Google and YouTube in Davos, Switzerland]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/c0def2763a3103c7ee5a2438c9d6450c244d2f42/0_133_3500_2100/master/3500.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Trump’s return to the White House has sparked a wave of soul searching across Europe. His America First doctrine and threat of tariffs on EU goods have left Europe’s elite wondering how it can close the growing economic gulf with the US – and find the billions needed for extra military expenditure.
![[German vice-chancellor Robert Habeck]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/701b7c31eeb3a7773f418968b19a047c58c26e88/0_460_8073_4844/master/8073.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
In countless conversations at Davos, business leaders and politicians laid bare the problems facing the EU: from stagnation in the core economies of France and Germany and failure to rival the American tech titans, to the rise of populism and the Ukraine war on its doorstep.
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