Michel Barnier was French prime minister from September to December 2024, foreign minister (2004-2005), twice European commissioner (1999-2004 and 2010-2014) and Brexit negotiator (2016-2021). He looks back at the evolution of the transatlantic relationship in the face of Donald Trump's closer ties with Russia.

This is a tipping point, which I parallel with Putin's aggression against Ukraine in 2022. Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance sought to humiliate the Ukrainian president. This is unworthy of the president of the United States and, above all, not in line with his strategic interests. Pierre Mendès France [French prime minister in 1954-1955] used to say that you should never sacrifice the future for the present. I think that on many issues, Mr. Trump is now sacrificing the future for the present. It strikes me, moreover, that he can roll out this policy of rupture, which also affects the US economy and society, in a series of executive orders signed alone and thundering declarations, without arousing more parliamentary reactions or counterweights in the US. For our part, we must remain calm, cool-headed and united.

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