European leaders congratulate Trump and brace for change – Europe live
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Good morning. It’s Tuesday, 21 January 2025. Donald J. Trump is the US President, and the world is still spinning. I checked. European leaders were busy last night sending carbon copy messages of congratulations, hailing the “longstanding,” “special” and “strategic” relationship their country (and only their country, of course) have with the US, and their personal connection with the new US president. If you read one of them, you read them all.
Some even posted pictures from their previous meetings with Trump to make it look as if they met in Washington last night (I see you Giorgia Meloni.). But one well-wisher inadvertently said the quiet part out loud. Szymon Hołownia, the speaker of the Polish parliament, made some effort to write a social media post in English: “Welcome President Trump. We are ready to cooperate, discuss and do business together.”.
But then, in Polish, he wearily added: “And may God watch over us all.”. Welcome to our live coverage of European politics. It’s Jakub Krupa here. If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at jakub.krupa@theguardian.com. I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.
