Trump’s return to US presidency pushes European leaders into a huddle

Trump’s promise during his election campaign of stopping the war in Ukraine ‘within hours’ is worrying the EU leaders.

European leaders have gathered in the shadow of Donald Trump’s election victory in the United States, calling for stronger action to defend themselves and back Ukraine.

The huddle of more than 40 leaders in Budapest on Thursday is a clear signal to the Republican president-elect, who has long been sceptical of the transatlantic alliance.

The summit of the European Political Community, set up after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, was called after Trump made a dramatic comeback as the US president for a second term. During his election campaign, Trump had promised to end the Russia-Ukraine war “within hours”.

Trump’s relationship with his European peers was rocky for much of his first term. Since then, he has said he would not defend European allies unless they spend more on their own defence, has expressed scepticism about the scale of US support for Ukraine, and has proposed tariffs on imports that would hurt European manufacturers.

His election is a new source of anxiety at a time when Europe is already grappling with weakness in its two biggest powers, Germany, whose government just broke apart, and France, where President Emmanuel Macron lost his party’s majority in parliament.