Large majorities in six nations express antipathy to Trump’s US and support European self-assertion
Western Europeans prize Europe’s autonomy and values over transatlantic ties and will not give them up to placate Donald Trump, according to a poll suggesting opinions of the US have plunged to their lowest since YouGov began tracking them a decade ago.
The US president’s attempted Greenland grab has succeeded in turning Europeans solidly against his country, the pollster’s latest survey found. Large majorities in Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Great Britain all declared an unfavourable opinion.
The figures, ranging from 62% in France to 84% in Denmark – of which Greenland is a self-governing territory – mark a further steep rise in negative perceptions of the US even since November, when the range was between 49% and 70%.
This is a bit of a “all or nothing” fallacy. It admits to degrees. It’s like someone saying that they can’t be vegetarian because they like bacon. Dude, just cut out everything except bacon, it’s fine.
Countries reducing their exposure to USD is still a good step, given how unreliable a partner the USA has been the last decade. You don’t have to fully dump all your USD bonds to add resilience to your financial system.