The Trump government has launched a cultural war against Europe, strongly promoting the political and ideological allies of the MAGA movement in Epirus and publicly humiliating the EU on the international stage, according to a joint report by the European Council of Foreign Relations (ECFR) and the European Cultural Council (ECFR).

The report argues that the US president is actively seeking to intervene in electoral processes in Europe, to remodel the transatlantic relationship based more ‘Conservative Values’ and to rally the right -wing populists of Epirus around the narrative of “freedom of speech”.

And the division and hesitation of European leaders, as well as the tactic of “flattery, appeasement and distraction”, not only do not work, but on the contrary it exacerbates Trump’s attitude, the report adds.

Using surveys and polls from the 27 member states of the bloc, the report of the two bodies, however, argues that several countries have pro-European governments-and a strong public feeling-that enables the EU the opportunity to stand up and “defend a Europe”.

The exhibition likens Europe to the protagonist of the film “The Truman Show”, which in the end realizes that it lives in a television setting aimed at increasing viewership, and is called upon to decide whether to abandon the only reality it has met.

He also argues that European leaders They waste a lot of energy by reacting to the judgments that Trump sets up And his European allies -such as Victor Orban in Hungary, Georgia Melon in Italy or Robert Fitso in Slovakia -, from commercial blackmail with duties to controversy over the freedom of speech and defensive spending.

The “declaration of war” by Vance

“In the Trump Cultural War, Europe itself is the aim of Europe itself,” notes Pavel Zerva, an analyst of the European Foreign Relations Council, even describing the speech of the GDD. Vance at the Munich Security Conference in February 2025, where he accused Europe of “receiving common fundamental values” until the Trump government declared war on the bloc.

According to him, that speech by Vance revealed Washington’s intention to intervene in electoral processes, to talk about ‘Values ​​Divine’ between the US and the EU and to use freedom of speech as a ‘call for co -routing’ to parties that embrace Maga ideology in Europe

Then, as Zerva adds, Trump “revealed his intentions further by excluding EU leaders from talks about the future of Ukraine, attacking traditional political parties across Epirus and blackmailing Brussels institutions during trade negotiations. “

The report cites Trump’s attempt to “move the ideological center of gravity of European politics” to the right, Poland, citing a warm welcome to the White House reserved by the US president of the nationalist candidate – then – President of the country and the country’s president of the country.

War on two fronts

Zerva argues that this Trump Cultural War is being held on two fronts: The ideologicalabout the values ​​that determine European policy, and the institutionalabout “the dignity, credibility and identity of Europe as an autonomous player on the world stage”.

Brussels and European countries must “accept that they are accepting cultural war” and act accordingly, the European Foreign Relations Council analyst. “This does not mean, of course, that Europe should confront Trump at every opportunity. Sometimes the “time market” is necessary, “he adds.

But using its advantages, the block can “prosper instead of suffering in the midst of accelerating destabilization of the world by the US president”.

The study argues that Conditions are ‘mature’ so that European leaders can leave the “scene” set up by Trump. Polls show that the European feeling – a sense of belonging to a common space, the common future and the commitment to common values ​​- remains strong.

According to Eurobarometer data, citizens’ confidence in the EU has been at its highest level since 2007 and has increased in 12 countries – most noticeably in Sweden, France, Denmark and Portugal – since Trump returned to the White House. In almost all countries, the majority of citizens are dedicated to the EU.

Few parties are now leaving the Union, while in all countries, with the exception of three (Romania, Poland and Czech Republic), the majority is that the EU’s role in protecting European citizens in worldwide crises and security risks must be strengthened.

A European Foreign Relations Council poll also showed that Europeans are widely in favor of increasing European defense spending and blocked military autonomy by the US, and that Europe and America are now expanding. ‘Two different models of democracy’.

Although the image is not the same in all countries, Zerva argues that no Member State will avoid the impact of the cultural war, even calling on Eurosceptic leaders to recognize that the EU is “the only framework in which they can protect their national sovereignty and prosperity”.

The leaders of the bloc countries, he adds, should to reject Trump’s “Strategy of Welcome”even if this exacerbates transatlantic tensions, while the European Commission “must show boldness” and use tools such as the law on digital services and other commercial pressure.

“The logic of” is culture, stupid “(by paraphrase of” is the economy, stupid “) urgently must be integrated into the mentality of European leaders,” adds Andre Wilkens director of the European Cultural Foundation. defend them. “