Europe fights to avoid being sidelined by Trump’s world-shaping plans

LONDON (AP) — When President Donald Trump took the stage in Egypt to hail the U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, a row of world leaders stood behind him like extras in a political drama.

It was a telling image. European governments have struggled to play a significant role in diplomacy over the Gaza war, while the “America First” leader has played a central one, pushing longtime allies in Europe toward the sidelines.

Closer to home, they have labored with mixed results to shape Trump’s response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's obstinate pursuit of the Ukraine war, a conflict with profound consequences for the continent’s future.

“Is Europe able to influence Trump? I think the short answer … is no,” said Lindsay Newman, a geopolitical risk expert and columnist for GZERO Media. “The policy and positioning of the U.S. government – on Ukraine, on Israel, on its relationship with Europe – is defined by the president and those around him. Largely the president.”

Newman said Trump’s ambitious global agenda proves anyone wrong who thought “‘America First’ means a narrow, isolationist foreign policy.”

“He's remaking the world in his image,” she said.

European support for Ukraine against Russia's invasion has clashed with Trump's desire to end the conflict even if that means Kyiv giving up territory. The continent's leaders have had decidedly mixed results in trying to bolster the president's support for Ukraine.

Trump this week did finally pull the trigger and sanctioned Russia’s oil and gas industry following bipartisan pressure in Washington and months of lobbying by Kyiv and its European allies.

But he appeared more motivated by frustration with Putin — unable to persuade the Russian leader to hold direct talks with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — than assuaging European countries, whom he has accused of undercutting their call for U.S. sanctions by continuing to purchase Russian oil.

“Every time I speak with Vladimir, I have good conversations, and then they don’t go anywhere,” an irritated Trump said on Wednesday. “I just felt it was time. We waited a long time.”

The White House did not respond to requests for comment.

Trump hasn't hidden his frustration at being unable to halt the 3 1/2-year-old war, something he boasted on the campaign trail he would get done on Day One of his return to office.

He has berated Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, met Putin in Alaska and sent envoys to Moscow and Kyiv, but has failed to push the two sides to the negotiating table. Yet days after the Putin meeting, Trump hosted Zelenskyy and top European leaders at the White House and said the U.S. would be willing to support European efforts to police any peace deal in Ukraine.

Trump has hinted at giving Kyiv long-range Tomahawk missiles to strike inside Russia, but also seemed to back Putin’s demand that Ukraine surrender all of its eastern Donbas region, including parts Russia doesn't occupy.

The president and his team have argued that the biggest conflict on European soil since World War II has minimal significance to the United States, and urged Europeans to take on greater responsibility for ending the conflict.

European leaders welcomed this week's oil and gas sanctions, which French President Emmanuel Macron called “a turning point.”

But Europe has its own divisions over Ukraine. The 27-nation European Union is struggling to finalize a plan to use frozen Russian assets as collateral for a massive loan to Ukraine. Belgium, where much of the money is held, is seeking assurances other countries will share the burden of any Russian economic retaliation.

Hungary’s Moscow-friendly Prime Minister Viktor Orbán opposes EU support for Kyiv. Despite that, Grégoire Roos, director of the Europe and Russia program at the international affairs think tank Chatham House, said there has been progress in forging a cohesive European position toward Trump.

“I don’t see absolute unanimity, but on the other hand, I didn’t see unity crumbling significantly,” he said. “And as far as Europe is concerned, this is already a victory.”

Europe’s influence on halting the Israel-Hamas war is even more tenuous.

“Europe has had no real impact, let’s face it,” Roos said, although Europe will be called on to give both money and expertise for Gaza's eventual reconstruction.

The EU is the world’s biggest provider of aid to Palestinians, but has little leverage over Israel – in part because European nations are divided over how to handle the conflict.

Since forging the fragile ceasefire, which he hailed at an Oct. 13 summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, as “a once-in-a-lifetime chance to put the old feuds and bitter hatreds behind us,” Trump and his team have heaped praise on Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia. But he’s been muted about Europe’s involvement.

Trump’s ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, even took to X to call a senior British government official “delusional” for suggesting the U.K. had played a critical role in helping bring about the Gaza deal.

The U.S. administration’s irritation has been fueled in part by Britain and France joining several other countries last month to recognize a Palestinian state.

The ceasefire has at least temporarily turned down the volume on European criticism of Israel over its treatment of Palestinians— often tinged with implicit criticism of the United States’ steadfast backing for Israel.

Jonath Schanzer, a former terrorism finance analyst at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, said the space created by the ceasefire could help put the U.S. and Europe on a better footing.

“The Trump ceasefire brought the blistering European criticism to a murmur,” said Schanzer, executive director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a hawkish Washington think tank. “This has enabled all parties to move ahead in a more constructive manner."

Newman said Trump appears more interested in building relationships with countries across the Middle East than with Europe.

“There have been efforts to pivot away from the Middle East for successive U.S. administrations,” she said. “But it’s almost as though there’s a pivot toward the region.”

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its increasing belligerence toward neighboring NATO countries have been a wake-up call for Europe, made more alarming by Trump’s longstanding threats not to defend European NATO members unless they stump up more money for their own defense.

That got the desired response of pushing many European countries to increase military spending.

The worst European fears about Trump’s second term have not yet come to pass. Trump has not withdrawn U.S. troops from Europe or pulled out of NATO. His global tariff blitz has not resulted in the threatened 100% import taxes on European goods.

Britain, which left the EU in 2020, is being drawn politically, economically and militarily closer to its European neighbors, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer has become a key conduit between Washington and the continent.

Kathleen Burk, emeritus professor of Modern and Contemporary History at University College London, said Trump respects unity and that “if the Europeans hang together,” they can hope to have some influence.

“Trump may have actually realized that it’s always better to have allies than enemies,” she said.

Madhani reported from Washington.

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy leave 10 Downing Street in London, Friday, Oct. 24, 2025 for a meeting of the so-called "coalition of the willing".(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomes Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to 10 Downing Street in London, Friday, Oct. 24, 2025 for a later meeting of the so-called "coalition of the willing".(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, Pool)

President Donald Trump speaks during a summit to support ending the more than two-year Israel-Hamas war in Gaza after a breakthrough ceasefire deal, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, as Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer listen. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump and other leaders gather for a family photo during a summit to support ending the more than two-year Israel-Hamas war in Gaza after a breakthrough ceasefire deal, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool)

BEIJING (AP) — Breaking with the United States, Canada has agreed to cut its 100% tariff on Chinese electric cars in return for lower tariffs on Canadian farm products, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday.

Carney made the announcement after two days of meetings with Chinese leaders. He said there would be an initial cap of 49,000 vehicles on Chinese EV exports to Canada, growing to 70,000 over five years. China will reduce its tariff on canola seeds, a major Canadian export, from about 84% to about 15%, he told reporters.

“It has been a historic and productive two days,” Carney said, speaking outside against the backdrop of a traditional pavilion and a frozen pond at a Beijing park. “We have to understand the differences between Canada and other countries, and focus our efforts to work together where we’re aligned.”

Earlier Friday, he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping pledged to improve relations between their two nations after years of acrimony.

Xi told Carney in a meeting at the Great Hall of the People that he is willing to continue working to improve ties, noting that talks have been underway on restoring and restarting cooperation since the two held an initial meeting in October on the sidelines of a regional economic conference in South Korea.

“It can be said that our meeting last year opened a new chapter in turning China–Canada relations toward improvement,” China's top leader said.

Carney, the first Canadian prime minister to visit China in eight years, said better relations would help improve a global governance system that he described as “under great strain.”

He called for a new relationship “adapted to new global realities” and cooperation in agriculture, energy and finance.

Those new realities reflect in large part the so-called America-first approach of U.S. President Donald Trump. The tariffs he has imposed have hit both the Canadian and Chinese economies. Carney, who has met with several leading Chinese companies in Beijing, said ahead of his trip that his government is focused on building an economy less reliant on the U.S. at what he called “a time of global trade disruption.”

A Canadian business owner in China called Carney's visit game-changing, saying it re-establishes dialogue, respect and a framework between the two nations.

“These three things we didn’t have,” said Jacob Cooke, the CEO of WPIC Marketing + Technologies, which helps exporters navigate the Chinese market. “The parties were not talking for years.”

Canada had followed the U.S. in putting tariffs of 100% on EVs from China and 25% on steel and aluminum under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Carney’s predecessor.

China responded by imposing duties of 100% on Canadian canola oil and meal and 25% on pork and seafood. It added a 75.8% tariff on canola seeds last August. Collectively, the import taxes effectively closed the Chinese market to Canadian canola, an industry group has said. Overall, China's imports from Canada fell 10.4% last year to $41.7 billion, according to Chinese trade data.

China is hoping Trump’s pressure tactics on allies such as Canada will drive them to pursue a foreign policy that is less aligned with the United States. The U.S. president has suggested Canada could become America's 51st state.

Carney departs China on Saturday and visits Qatar on Sunday before attending the annual gathering of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland next week. He will meet business leaders and investors in Qatar to promote trade and investment, his office said.

Associated Press business writer Chan Ho-him in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, speaks to the media at Ritan Park in Beijing, China, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, leaves after speaking to the media at Ritan Park in Beijing, China, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, centre, reacts during a meeting with Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney (not in the picture), at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian, Pool)

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, speaks to the media at Ritan Park in Beijing, China, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, center, arrives to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian, Pool)

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, shakes hands with China's President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)