‘Beginning of the end of the Trump era’: Europe relieved by Republicans’ midterm bashing, wary of what follows

Following the US midterm election results, European diplomats express cautious optimism that a weakened President Trump might lead to changes in US policies that impact Europe, although significant shifts seem uncertain.

The Democrats' victory may introduce checks and balances domestically; however, Trump's executive power and prioritization of internal political battles suggest continued uncertainties in foreign policies, including tariffs, NATO engagement, and support for Ukraine.

While Europe hopes for a more cooperative stance on issues such as digital regulation, expectations for substantial alterations in US foreign policy remain limited.

BRUSSELS, Nov 4 — There may be jubilation in Europe after a stunning rout of the Republicans in the US midterm elections left President Donald Trump weakened.

But there are no guarantees that the political earthquake will change key US policies.

Here are the areas Europeans will be watching for a shift:

After a rollercoaster of tariffs, trashing Ukraine, and threats to Greenland, diplomats in Brussels were welcoming the results.

“There is relief here that this is the beginning of the end of the Trump era and nobody is happier than Europeans,” one diplomat told AFP, granted anonymity like others to discuss the issue.

The first expectation appears that the Democratic victories could help rein in Trump and begin righting the ship — at least at home.

“Hope is that with checks and balances some confidence will come back in the US system,” said a second senior EU diplomat.

But there is also a clear sense that America’s inward turn under Trump is unlikely to halt.

“If anything, the US will turn even more inwards and focus on the domestic political fight between the White House and the Congress,” a third diplomat said.

Meanwhile on the international stage Trump should still have a freer hand — and get even more aggressive.

“Trump still has executive powers and has been ignoring Congress,” the same diplomat said.

Despite the caution, Europe dearly wants to see a shift in Washington’s approach to the war in Ukraine.

Ahead of the midterms, Trump yet again lashed out at Ukraine and cosied up to Russia as Washington has renewed its push to end the fighting.

The Democrat win will now usher in a more vocal pro-Kyiv majority in Congress that could pressure Trump to change tack.

But there is little hope that the United States will go back to being a major financial backer for Ukraine.

Officials in Brussels say they are focused on plugging a €70-billion (RM321 billion) hole in Kyiv’s finances next year.

And while they’re pushing other countries such as Britain, Canada and Japan to do more, they are certainly not counting on the United States.

As the impact of Trump’s Iran war continues to send inflation up in Europe, the continent is anxiously eyeing what happens next in the Middle East.

But with Washington carrying out fresh strikes in recent days, there are fears that the situation could escalate again now the midterms have passed.

Throw in as well the unpredictable situation in Israel, where Trump ally Benjamin Netanyahu is engaged in his own post-election horse-trading.

At Nato, Washington’s European allies are nervously waiting for the results of a Pentagon review of US forces on the continent that looks set to be unveiled in December.

Multiple diplomats have previously said they do not expect the midterms to impact the result.

Now with the Democrats threatening to go after US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, one of the most aggressive voices on Europe could be under fire at the Pentagon.

Despite that, Europeans remain clear-eyed and insist they are not backing down on efforts to take more responsibility for their own security.

One of Europe’s major bugbears with Trump are the tariffs he’s imposed.

Getting him to backtrack on one of his centrepiece economic policies seems unlikely.

Democrats seeking to bring down inflation could try to roll back some of the measures.

But some look likely to stick around.

In a recent poll from the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations, only one quarter of Americans backed removing all the tariffs on the EU.

Another area of conflict has been Trump’s opposition to the EU efforts to curb big tech.

Now with the Democrats pledging to crack down on the power of Silicon valley — Europe is hoping it won’t face such strong headwinds.

“We will not change our enforcement of our digital rules, and we don’t expect changes on such issues with the White House,” an EU official told AFP.

“But we expect more room to discuss, to cooperate with Congress on global shared challenges” such as AI and cyber security. — AFP

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美国中期选举结果公布后，欧洲外交官谨慎乐观地认为，特朗普总统的权力削弱可能会导致美国政策发生变化，从而影响欧洲，尽管重大转变似乎尚不明朗。

民主党的胜利可能会在国内引入制衡机制；然而，特朗普的行政权力和对内部政治斗争的优先考虑表明，外交政策方面仍存在诸多不确定性，包括关税、北约参与以及对乌克兰的支持。

尽管欧洲希望美国在数字监管等问题上采取更合作的立场，但对美国外交政策发生实质性改变的期望仍然有限。

布鲁塞尔，11月4日——美国中期选举中共和党遭遇惨败，总统唐纳德·特朗普的地位受到削弱，欧洲可能会为此欢欣鼓舞。

但并不能保证这场政治地震会改变美国的关键政策。

欧洲人将密切关注以下几个领域的转变：

在经历了关税政策的过山车式变化、对乌克兰的抨击以及对格陵兰岛的威胁之后，布鲁塞尔的外交官们对最终结果表示欢迎。

一位外交官告诉法新社：“这里的人都松了一口气，因为这是特朗普时代走向终结的开始，没有人比欧洲人更高兴了。”这位外交官和其他一些人一样，在讨论这个问题时被要求匿名。

第一个预期似乎是，民主党的胜利可能有助于遏制特朗普，并开始扭转局面——至少在国内是如此。

“希望通过权力制衡，人们能够重拾对美国体制的信心，”另一位欧盟高级外交官表示。

但人们也清楚地感觉到，特朗普执政下美国的内向化趋势不太可能停止。

第三位外交官表示：“如果说有什么变化的话，那就是美国将更加封闭，更加专注于白宫和国会之间的国内政治斗争。”

与此同时，在国际舞台上，特朗普应该仍然拥有更大的行动自由——甚至可以采取更激进的策略。

“特朗普仍然拥有行政权力，并且一直无视国会，”这位外交官说。

尽管心存谨慎，欧洲仍然非常希望看到华盛顿在乌克兰战争问题上采取不同的策略。

在中期选举前夕，特朗普再次抨击乌克兰，并与俄罗斯走近，因为华盛顿方面再次推动结束冲突。

民主党的胜利将使国会中亲基辅的多数派声音更加响亮，这可能会迫使特朗普改变策略。

但美国重新成为乌克兰主要财政支持者的可能性微乎其微。

布鲁塞尔官员表示，他们正集中精力填补基辅明年财政上 700 亿欧元（3210 亿令吉）的缺口。

虽然他们正敦促英国、加拿大和日本等其他国家采取更多行动，但他们肯定没有指望美国。

随着特朗普发动的伊朗战争持续推高欧洲通货膨胀，整个欧洲大陆都在焦急地关注中东接下来的局势发展。

但由于华盛顿近日再次举行罢工，人们担心中期选举结束后局势可能会再次升级。

此外，还要加上以色列难以预测的局势，特朗普的盟友本杰明·内塔尼亚胡正在进行他自己的选后政治交易。

在北约，华盛顿的欧洲盟友正焦急地等待五角大楼对驻欧美军进行审查的结果，该结果预计将于 12 月公布。

多位外交官此前曾表示，他们预计中期选举不会影响选举结果。

现在，民主党人威胁要对付美国国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯，这位在欧洲问题上最激进的声音之一可能在五角大楼遭到抨击。

尽管如此，欧洲人依然保持清醒的头脑，并坚持认为他们不会在承担更多自身安全责任方面退缩。

欧洲对特朗普的主要不满之一就是他征收的关税。

让他放弃其核心经济政策之一似乎不太可能。

民主党人为了降低通胀，可能会试图撤销其中一些措施。

但有些球员看起来可能会留下来。

华盛顿外交关系委员会最近的一项民意调查显示，只有四分之一的美国人支持取消对欧盟的所有关税。

另一个冲突领域是特朗普反对欧盟限制大型科技公司的努力。

如今，民主党人承诺要遏制硅谷的权力——欧洲希望自己不会面临如此强烈的阻力。

一位欧盟官员告诉法新社：“我们不会改变对数字规则的执行方式，也不指望白宫在这些问题上做出改变。”

“但我们希望有更多空间与国会就人工智能和网络安全等全球共同挑战进行讨论和合作。”——法新社

联合国表示，女性在企业高层职位中取得进展，但性别差距依然存在。

五名被泰国拘留的维吾尔人请求移居第三国，而中国则寻求逮捕他们。

印尼一架水上轰炸直升机在婆罗洲附近猩猩公园坠毁，造成一人死亡，五人获救。

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