Donald Trump is back in Europe this Wednesday and Thursday, September 17-18, for his second state visit to the United Kingdom. This time, the British welcomed him in Windsor with all the required pomp and pageantry, but with considerable reluctance. There was no procession at Buckingham Palace – closed for renovations – nor a speech to Parliament at Westminster – on recess. Except for his first night, which he spent at the ambassador's residence in London, the president of the US was kept at a respectful distance from the capital, whose Labour mayor, Sadiq Khan, had called on residents to protest against "those who seek to divide us."

This deep discomfort in what was once such a "special" relationship stood in stark contrast to the warm celebration of Franco-British rapprochement marked by another state visit in July, that of President Emmanuel Macron to London. It also reflected the perilous balancing act forced on Europeans by the geopolitical chaos of the first quarter of this century.

Since Trump's return to the White House and amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, Europeans have found themselves caught between American pressure and the threat from Russia. They continue to waver between a push for greater autonomy and the fear of being left to defend themselves before their defenses are fully in place. Summer offered many lessons in this regard, lessons from which they have yet to draw the main conclusion: unlike them, the president of the US does not consider Vladimir Putin an adversary.

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