EU blasts Trump’s attacks as ‘outdated’ and urges independence

Von der Leyen’s remarks come a week after the US president castigated EU leaders as “weak” and issued a new national security strategy that argued the EU was facing “civilizational erasure” and economic decline. 

“Let me say this: It would not be the first time that assumptions about Europe were shown to be outdated,” von der Leyen said. “It would not be the first realization that the postwar world order is changing beyond recognition.”

The commission president argued that the US document omitted key facts. 

She cited a passage noting that Europe’s share of global GDP had dropped from 25% in 1990 to 14% today. Yet the same is true for the US, she said, pointing out that the country’s global GDP share had dropped from 22% to 14% in the same timespan. Meanwhile, China has rapidly risen. 

“This is not a story of an economy on one side of the Atlantic or the other,” von der Leyen said. “This is the story of the shift in the world economy.”

She added: “The point I am making is: This strategy is not the cause of the disruption that Europe is facing in the world. It is a symptom of the reality of today’s world.”

EU leaders are trying to address this new reality on Thursday when they gather in Brussels for a summit. 

With the US cutting off aid to Ukraine, the EU is scrambling to craft its own funding plan to keep Kyiv afloat. The bloc is also attempting to finalize a massive trade deal with the Mercosur bloc of South American countries, in part to show it can diversify away from the US and offer a credible alternative to China in the region. 

“This is Europe’s independence moment,” von der Leyen said.