Written by via zerohedge.com
n Europe, there is anxiety that former President Donald Trump may be reelected in November.
European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde shockingly broke ECB tradition to comment on politics during a France 2 interview. Specifically, she said the return of President Trump could put the United States at odds with Europe in several areas, including trade protectionism, military support for NATO, and the fight against climate change.
Ms. Lagarde doubled down in a session at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, when she said that the best defense against a possible return of “Trump 2.0” to the White House in 2025 is to bolster Europe’s economy and unity.
Ms. Lagarde said,:
“The best defense, if that’s the way we want to look at it, is to attack,” adding that,
“To attack properly, you need to be strong at home. So being strong means having a strong, deep market, having a real single market.”
From these public attacks on a potential U.S. presidential candidate, I think it is safe to conclude that Ms. Lagarde is infected with “Trump derangement syndrome” (TDS), but the irony of her statement is that some of the biggest European economies, like the Netherlands and Germany, are shifting right as farmers protest the green agenda and land seizures, so Europe’s green agenda is currently a bigger threat to the European Union unity than Donald Trump.
Ironically, President Joe Biden maintained President Trump’s trade barriers, so I suspect that some of Ms. Lagarde’s fears are unwarranted, especially U.S. military support for NATO, which was bolstered under President Trump, as long as Europe paid its fair share.
However, Ms. Lagarde is correct about climate change, since President Trump did not embrace the Paris Climate Accord.