A return to the White House for former President Donald Trump Donald is “clearly a threat” to Europe judging by the America-first nature of his policies last time, European Central Bank (ECB) president Christine Lagarde cautioned Thursday.
The French globalist lawyer turned career bureaucrat made her claim of a potential misalignment between a less malleable Trump and Europe in an interview with France 2.
In doing so she broke with the tradition for central bank bosses to steer clear of politics, much less commenting directly on foreign elections.
However, her comments encapsulate the rising anxiety among European leaders that a Trump victory in November’s election would lead to an independent, less Europe-focussed administration in the White House, one less likely to be at the beck and call of Brussels on a host of issues.
The ECB president said a return of Trump was likely to put the U.S. at odds with Europe in several areas, including trade protectionism, military support for NATO and the fight against climate change, the outlet detailed. Lagarde said:
If we learn lessons from history, from looking at the way he led the first four years of his mandate, it [a Trump return] is clearly a threat.
It is enough to look at trade tariffs, the commitment to NATO, the fight against climate change … In these three areas alone, in the past, U.S. interests were not aligned with those of Europe.
Asked if Trump’s presidency could leave Europe alone in supporting Ukraine against Russia’s full-scale invasion, Lagarde said this was unlikely.
File/09 June 2018, Canada, La Malbaie/ U.S. President Donald Trump attends a breakfast with G7 leaders and members of the Gender Equality Advisory Council. Next to him are IMF director Christine Lagarde (c) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. (Michael Kappeler/Getty)
Instead she countered, “because in the U.S. Congress there are a number of elected members who are deeply hostile to Russia’s horrific war against Ukraine and who will continue to finance and support Ukraine.”
The Financial Times reports Lagarde, who was a minister in the French government before she became head of the IMF in 2011 and then ECB president, dismissed rumours she might leave the ECB before her eight-year term expires in 2027 to rejoin politics.