100 days of Trump: A view from Europe

Editor’s note: This article was originally published on Senator Malhuret’s website. It has been lightly edited for clarity.

On March 4th, in a speech before the French Senate, I asked this question:

Why, in the face of so many senseless decisions by their President, weren’t Americans reacting? Today, that question no longer stands: Americans have reacted. Protests in all major cities, lawmakers confronted in city halls, governors refusing to comply with illegal executive orders, judges striking them down, and collapsing poll numbers. And I welcome this resistance.

But I must also say it, with the full honesty friends owe one another: For now, the protests, the demonstrations, the opposition have not stopped the situation from getting worse.

Each day brings a new round of delusional announcements. Outrageous tariffs, arbitrary deportations, attacks on Social Security, retirement, freedom of speech, education, justice, the Constitution, veterans, voting rights, universities, and science. Donald Trump doesn’t make decisions—he takes revenge.

Every day, confidence in America declines. By crashing the stock market and the dollar, scaring off buyers of US bonds, walling off his country behind tariff barriers, and—like Al Capone—telling allies they’ll pay or face trouble, the man who claims he’s restoring America’s greatness is actually shrinking it.

Every day, uncertainty grows. A surreal lineup of 10 to 150 percent tariffs is showcased on television one day and withdrawn the next. A trade war with China is announced, only to be abandoned within 48 hours. The Fed Chair is threatened, then spared when markets plunge. Executive orders are struck down in court, heightening confusion. Fog is the enemy of any economy—and the “Donald Crash” was inevitable. It will continue, paced by the pirouettes of this iron-painted reed.

No one knows what he’ll do after the 90-day pause—least of all, Donald Trump himself.

Every day, loyalty is valued over expertise. Cabinet members are chosen not despite their incompetence but because of it. A Health Secretary who can’t locate his own gallbladder spouts nonsense about vaccines and the origins of AIDS. The Defense Secretary, between shots of gin, chats online with family and friends about ongoing military operations—under the watchful eyes of the world’s intelligence services. The Chief Counselor for Trade—or rather, the Chief Forger—fabricates a fake economist to support his absurd theses. The envoy for Ukraine has long been in cahoots with an oligarch close to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin. As for Vice President [J.D. Vance], he managed the feat of becoming, in just a few days, more hated than any of his predecessors in the United States—and just as disliked across Europe, after his hate-filled speech in Munich. Just listen to him and you’ll imagine the constant toothache that must be his life.

In my previous speech, I compared the new US administration to Nero’s court. I was wrong. It is Caligula’s court—Caligula, who once appointed his horse consul. At least his horse never hurt anyone.

Every day, in the Oval Office, seated in a chair the color of his hair, Trump parades world leaders before the press, like in a reality show—startled or submissive, seeming unsure why they are there, forced to sit through speeches drenched in self-satisfaction, vain ignorance, aggressive vulgarity, and an overdose of himself. They now know why they were invited, since Trump himself explained it: to “kiss his ass.”

But of course, the worst of it all is betrayal.

Since the Oval Office humiliation of Zelensky, which shocked the entire world—and many Americans—each day has deepened the capitulation to Putin. A UN vote siding with Russia, alongside North Korea and Nicaragua. The dismantling of federal structures tasked with investigating Russian interference in the United States. The appointment of an intelligence chief described on Russian television by propagandist Soloviev as a Putin agent. The closing of Voice of America after 80 years of operation. And poor [Steve] Witkoff, the oligarchs’ friend, placed in charge of the Ukraine file—though he knows nothing about it—and repeating Kremlin lines every time he returns from Moscow. As one Department of Homeland Security official put it: “Putin is now inside.” Today, when cats eat mice, they claim the mice attacked first. And Trump believes them. Is he under kompromat [blackmail] or simply unimaginably stupid? What’s certain is that he is the best Russian president in American history.

[Trump’s] so-called plan for a ceasefire in Ukraine goes beyond Putin’s wildest dreams: Annexation of Crimea, occupation of four oblasts, no security guarantees for Kyiv, and looting of mineral resources. It is, obviously, unacceptable to Ukrainians and disastrous for Europeans. I once described the beginning of the Trump presidency as a tragedy. After 100 days, it turns out to be a farce. But a sinister farce.

Every decision by the Mar-a-Lago showman has had disastrous consequences. In economics: the plunge of the stock market and the dollar, rising interest rates, and the beginning of a recession. In foreign policy: abandonment of allies, subservience to Moscow, and a failed trade war against China—where the would-be sprinkler ended up soaked himself. In domestic affairs: open conflict with states, civil servants, universities, and many others. Trump is accelerating—but in reverse.

His mercantilist, nationalist, xenophobic, and narrow-minded policies are producing the same results they always have in history. As French writer Charles Péguy summed it up: “The triumph of demagogues is temporary, but the ruins are eternal.”

But the worst is never certain. As the Italians say: “A donkey’s trot never lasts long.” In just three months, Trumpism has started to crack. The unnatural alliance between billionaire “anywheres” and a “somewhere” base lasted only through the campaign. Since then, tech billionaires have lost their billions, and those who believed their promises have lost their jobs. Musk has already gone back to try to save what’s left at Tesla.

And Steve Bannon now leads the revolt of the popular base against the GAFAM oligarchs.

But it would be naïve to think this whole structure will collapse on its own. We must resist.

That’s what Europeans are trying to do, with infinite caution, so as not to worsen the crisis. They’ve responded to tariff hikes with a proposal to bring all tariffs down to zero on both sides. They respond to hostility by keeping channels of communication open. They are, with difficulty, preparing ways to continue supporting Ukraine the day Moscow’s lapdog finally cuts ties with Zelensky. They are beginning, too timidly, to rearm.

But of course, it is above all up to Americans to determine the future of their country—and thus, to a great extent, the future of the world.

For more than 80 years, we have built the free world we live in today. And for more than two centuries, we have shared the same values: democracy, human rights, and the entrepreneurial freedom that makes every American and every European feel, deep down, that they belong to the same civilization—so much so that neither could have imagined a day when, in so little time, leaders would make it their goal to drive a wedge between them.

I have a message for my American friends: All defenders of freedom must redouble their efforts. They must persuade the Republicans in Congress—those who have believed all their lives in free trade, alliances, the world order, and the fight against totalitarian regimes—that Trump is dishonoring them. They must persuade Democratic lawmakers to speak out louder than they do now. And they must finally persuade all Americans to fight for the values that made their nation the freest, the wealthiest, and the most powerful on Earth.

I am certain that moment will come sooner than we think.