In his inaugural address on Monday, January 20, Donald Trump spoke first and foremost to Americans. While he announced his withdrawal from the Paris Accords and the World Health Organization, he didn't have a single explicit word for Europe, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), or Ukraine. But in Brussels and other European capitals, people listened apprehensively to what the American president had to say and tried to read between the lines of how he intends to treat the 27 member states.

Trump was more direct on Tuesday, January 21, at a press conference: "The European Union is very, very bad to us," he said, accusing the bloc of not importing the US' agricultural products or cars. "So they're going to be in for tariffs. It's the only way."

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has so far failed to secure a meeting with Trump. On Tuesday, in Davos, Switzerland, where she was giving one of the opening speeches at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, she nevertheless sent him a message, without ever mentioning him directly. The EU will be "pragmatic," she said.

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