It's time to refer to the Definitions Section for "Europe."
The author hopes you won't notice the sleight of hand involved here:
"The transatlantic relationship is practically on life support," said Sudha David-Wilp, a senior transatlantic fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
Even if Democratic challenger Joe Biden wins the November 3 election, experts said there will be no magical healing of the EU-US rift.
Recent surveys by the Pew Research Center found that America's image among Europeans has plummeted to record lows, with just 26 percent of Germans now holding a favourable view of the superpower.
As a quick aside, if the Germans don't like America much, that reflects a problem with Germans and not America.
But I digress (as I can). Let me address some things before getting to the sleight of hand part. All the reasons given blaming tensions on America are BS. Note the Xi Jinping Flu record that America is allegedly screwing up:
As for harming multilateralism, the BS Paris climate deal was viewed as ineffective by the Green lobby right up until Trump pulled America out of the deal; and the horrible Iran nuclear deal was a shield behind which Iran would get nuclear weapons. And don't talk to me about Trump "cosying up to Russia" when Germany is the poster child to sucking up to Russia (via energy deals) and refusing to rearm in the face of Russian aggression. Trump is strengthening NATO defenses and pushing European NATO states to meet their multilateral commitment to spend 2% of GDP on defense.
And this is where we get to the sleight of hand part.
The article speaks of the EU-US rift as and issue between America and Europe. Since when is the European Union the same as Europe? Do not confuse the political entity with the geographic region.
In addition, NATO is the actual body that sustains trans-Atlantic ties. The European Union is the body trying to kill NATO and eject America from Europe to leave the EU free to be the imperial overlord it aspires to be. That EU will be a threat to America.
The EU is not "Europe" and the EU is no friend of America, and that is true regardless of who is America's president.
Remind again of the Golden Era in trans-Atlantic relations we should aspire to. And as long as we are talking about what angers "Europeans," let's discuss what doesn't bother them one bit.
In case I'm not clear about my view of the EU. And if you still have doubts. I feel like I've been on a long and lonely crusade against the--to me--incomprehensible thinking that a politically united Europe is actually in America's interest.
