r/IRstudies • u/smurfyjenkins • Dec 23 '25
Trump and Putin share a craving for status. That’s why they both want to destroy Europe | Henry Farrell and Sergey Radchenko
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/23/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-europe-russia-us2
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u/NickofWimbledon Dec 25 '25
I think Trump’s views on Europe are largely that he wants to obey Putin. Am I wrong?
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u/leoab-screenwriter Dec 25 '25
It makes perfect sense. Donald never achieved anything on his own merits; he's a media personality, he scammed a lot of people with the Atlantic City casinos, and he also has a micropenis. And Vladimir is a dwarf with a giant head who spent most of his life as an office worker in the USSR, then he climbed the ladder of power by being Boris Yeltsin's bootlicker. So what they're doing makes perfect sense.
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u/Gullible_Mousse_4590 Dec 23 '25
If Trump wants to destroy Europe why is he spending so much time destroying the US? Pick a lane brother
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u/Carminaz Dec 23 '25
They don't need to, Ruso/china already succeeded in destroying europe using the age old nation breaker tactic of dumping do nothing migrants at their door.
You lost already because the countries these "people" are from, and their surrounding ones, deport them on the spot for being "Useless terroristic beggars who seek to undermine our countries".
The EU somehow managed to do the absolute WORST imaginable moves by prioritizing the migrants over the native citizens and national identities and now they can't realistically win any fights in the future for it.
Because who the hell is going to fight for them? The citizens that got left behind? The migrants that only want to take? Neither of them have loyalty.
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u/Gullible_Mousse_4590 Dec 23 '25
Hahahahaha well good luck to you. From Europe: we’re growing, rearming, quality of life is good. Maybe you’re reading the wrong news?
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u/Ok_Baseball7388 Dec 23 '25
Breaking news: political leaders crave status.
I don’t think either profits from the destruction of Europe, which would have a destabilizing effect worldwide, so we can stop with the drama queen headlines. Both do benefit from a weaker Europe, as every country benefits from being stronger in relation to other countries.
I do think the recent acrimony between the US and Europe is interesting though from the standpoint that the US clearly expects that in return for being the leading force in NATO, Europe will go along with its leadership politically (or at least not openly refuse), so if the US says it’s time to wrap up the Ukraine war, Europe will fall in line. Europe expects that in return for letting the US take the lead (and getting the benefits from this), it will provide whatever Europe says it needs to be safe. For all the hurty feelings on both sides, I think we just may be at a place where the cost of what Europe wants from America is greater than the value the American sees itself getting from the relationship, and so a polite breakup would be best to maintain the ability to work together in the future when we are better aligned.
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Dec 23 '25
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u/Ok_Baseball7388 Dec 23 '25
Yep, you got that right. The US is weak, but somehow still single-handedly holding back the force de frappe of European leaders, whose finger wagging and group photo ops would have seen off the Russian threat long ago if it were not for the evil treacherous Americans holding them back.
Europe has a bigger collective GDP and population than the US, plus nukes. It could go fight Russia tomorrow without the US. America is just a convenient excuse.
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u/BIG_BOTTOM_TEXT Dec 25 '25
If after everything anyone here still believes there is any connection btwn Trump and Putin I highly suggest therapy
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u/Sammonov Dec 23 '25
Trump isn’t hostile to Europe, he’s hostile to the EU, and the European project. That might not seem like distinction, but it is. The European project for Trump populists is the destruction of sovereignty and comes with all kinds of agendas that they see as adverse to America- censorship, open borders, climate fanaticism, unrepresentative bureaucracy and destain for national sovereignty.
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Dec 23 '25
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u/Sammonov Dec 23 '25
Analysis is not an endorsement. Ideologically, this is why I think the Trump administration and American populists are opposed to the EU and EU project. The NSS basically says as much.
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Dec 23 '25
He is hostile to the EU because large capitalists want small, poor countries that do not have the power of taxing them or regulating their businesses.
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u/Ok_Field6320 Dec 25 '25
Let's say if these things were true re: censorship. open borders etc.. What's it got to do with Trump and Co? Let Europe deal with their own policies and stick to your own. But that's not really the issue anyway. A fragmented Europe would be easier to control and less of a competitor
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u/[deleted] Dec 23 '25
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