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Europe can’t be the world’s “herbivore” anymore following Donald Trump’s reelection as the United States president, according to Emmanuel Macron. It needs to become an “omnivore” instead.
The French president’s comments come a day after Trump swept to a resounding victory in the U.S. presidential election, prompting concerns that the U.S. president-elect could downgrade Washington’s participation in NATO, forcing European countries to ramp up defense spending.
Macron is known as Europe’s loudest advocate for the bloc becoming more independent from trading rivals such as China and the United States on everything from defense and security to cutting-edge technologies.
“For me, it’s simple. The world is made up of herbivores and carnivores. If we decide to remain herbivores, then the carnivores will win and we will be a market for them,” he told European leaders during a gathering in Budapest.
Macron’s own leadership on the European Union stage has taken a hit following snap elections he called for earlier this year, and in recent days he has tried to reposition himself as the bloc’s bridge to the U.S. He was one of the first leaders to congratulate Trump on Wednesday.
“I think, at the very least, we should choose to become omnivores. I don’t want to be aggressive, just that we know how to defend ourselves on all these subjects.”
One EU diplomat [vetted] in Budapest said Trump’s election could give the French leader a new “raison d’être” as chief cheerleader for a bolder, more independent European Union, namely when it comes to trade and security. The diplomat, like others quoted in the story, was granted anonymity to speak candidly.
While the French leader didn’t name countries, Europe faces potential trade wars on two fronts, with the U.S. and with China. The European Commission has hit Chinese electric vehicles with tariffs and faces potential trouble with Washington if Trump follows through on threats to impose tariffs on EU goods.
“We [in Europe] think that we should delegate our geopolitics to the United States of America, that we should delegate our growth debt to our Chinese clients, that we should delegate our technological innovation to the American hyper-scalers,” he said. “That’s not the best idea.”
Arriving at the meeting on Thursday, EU leaders and top officials, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, insisted on the need for Europe to take charge of security and defense, as well as supporting Ukraine against Russian aggression.
Speaking to a small group of reporters in Budapest, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said the outcome of the U.S. election has changed the status quo” on Ukraine.
“Europe has to reflect. If you ask me the theoretical question whether Europe could replace the U.S. in that matter I would say obviously not,” he said. “The outcome of the U.S. presidential elections creates a totally new reality, not only in Europe but in the world.”
Other EU leaders are keen to send a message of continued support for Kyiv during the meeting, hosted by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also present, two EU diplomats said.
But not everyone was taken in by Macron’s calls for unity.
“He says unity but it means French unity,” said one of the two diplomats mentioned above, who was unimpressed with Macron’s speech.
“If it means pulling up the drawbridges, and battening down the hatchets, no thank you. We want to stay open to the transatlantic relationship,” he said.
