Politics

Europe’s Most Unpopular Leader Rants Trump Is Seeking EU ‘Dismemberment’

(European Union Photo, via Wikimedia Commons)

French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday accused President Donald Trump of being “anti-European,” even as Europe itself appears to be turning increasingly “anti-Macron.”

Macron has emerged as one of Trump’s most vocal critics within the EU, but his outspoken stance has done little to bolster his standing at home. The French president is now the least popular leader in Europe, with an average approval rating of just 16%, according to a new Morning Consult poll.

Despite his domestic unpopularity, Macron has continued to speak out against the Trump administration.

Europe is confronting a Trump administration that is “openly anti-European,” “shows contempt” for the EU, and “wishes its dismemberment,” the French president said in interviews with the Financial Times, Le Monde and other outlets published Monday.

Macron said the recent clash over Greenland, when Trump threatened punitive tariffs against European countries opposed to his effort to secure control of the Arctic territory from Denmark, was “not over”.

“When there’s a clear act of aggression, I think what we should do isn’t bow down or try to reach a settlement,” Macron told the outlets. “We’ve tried that strategy for months. It’s not working.” He labeled the Greenland episode a “Greenland moment,” warning that European leaders should not grow complacent.

During his annual foreign policy address in January, Macron urged Europe to reject what he described as a return to “new colonialism.”

Macron also emphasized the need to protect European industries, including chemicals, steel, cars, and defense.

“Today we are facing in particular two major champions that no longer respect World Trade Organization rules,” he told the outlets, referring to the U.S. and China. “So if we do not agree to protect . . . to re-establish fair terms of trade, we will simply be swept away.”

Macron also predicted that the EU and the Trump administration would clash this year over tech regulation on data privacy, so-called “hate speech,” and digital taxation.

“The U.S. will, in the coming months — that’s certain — attack us over digital regulation,” Macron said, adding the Trump administration could hit the EU with tariffs if the bloc used its Digital Services Act to assert control over U.S. tech companies.

Already, on Feb. 3, French authorities raided the Paris offices of Elon Musk’s social media platform X and summoned the billionaire for questioning. The investigation, opened over a year ago, has expanded to include allegations of algorithm abuse and the spread of illegal content, including sexual deepfakes.

Despite Macron’s assertion that Trump is “anti-Europe,” the president himself insisted in January at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that he “love[s] Europe” but believes it is “not heading in the right direction.”

Moreover, the U.S. continues to support NATO while urging European nations to strengthen their own defenses. Matthew Whitaker, the U.S. ambassador to NATO, said on Monday that the U.S. expects Europe “to equalise, as we expect them to be stronger and to share the burden of European security with the United States and ultimately take over the conventional defence of the European continent, together with the United States overarching nuclear umbrella,” according to the Guardian.

The Trump administration’s National Defense Strategy, released in December, reaffirms the importance of the U.S.–European alliance, but emphasizes that Europe must contribute much more to its own defense. The document also warns that demographic changes within NATO countries could affect alliance cohesion.

Macron ranks the least popular among European leaders, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at 21%, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 23%, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof at 31%, and Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker at 33%. The approval ratings are based on surveys conducted between Feb. 2 and Feb. 8, averaged across adults in each country.