Europe: A vassal state of the US

[dsanchez]

Have been seen this trend for years, but it seems to be more evident lately. Now this:

.@vonderleyen: "You're known as a tough negotiator and dealmaker..."@POTUS: "And fair."

😂🤣 pic.twitter.com/LyuLLs53GO

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 27, 2025

Arnaud Betrand:

The "deal" is:
- The EU now gets charged 15% tariffs on its exports to the US when they commit to charging zero tariffs on US imports in the EU
- The EU agrees to invest $600 billion in the US, for no other obvious reason than pleasing "daddy"
- The EU will "purchase hundreds of billions of dollars of American military equipment"
- The EU commits to buying 750 billion dollars worth of very expensive US LNG, specifically $250 billion for each of the next 3 years

In exchange for all these concessions and extraction of their wealth they get... nothing. I'm not even exaggerating, that IS the deal: the EU gets nothing.

https://x.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1949578088712712651

[Sacha8]

That's absolutely disgusting, the state we're in. Throughout these months, because of the international political situation, I've often thought about the song Alone as (unintentionally?) referring to civilization degrading into barbarism. "We toast with bitter drags to our emptiness" indeed...

[dsanchez]

From Twitter:

Trump is in Britain, but nevertheless he is receiving Starmer as guests ... so Starmer is not the host.
LMAO ... isn't it supposed to be the other way around?

And President Trump is making him come to Scotland rather than Trump going to London. Starmer really is being humiliated here, with him coming up the steps to be greeted by a waiting US president. Wow.

🇬🇧🇺🇸 POWER MOVE: Trump is in Britain, but nevertheless he is receiving Starmer as guests ... so Starmer is not the host.

LMAO ... isn't it supposed to be the other way around? pic.twitter.com/O0PcCHmzix

— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) July 28, 2025

"Thank you for your hospitality"

Starmer thanks Trump for receiving him.

LMAO ... Trump managed to turn his Britain visit into Starmer being thankful that he can see him. Power move. lol. pic.twitter.com/de7IHJbuqx

— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) July 28, 2025

[dsanchez]

Oh my...

This is absolutely extraordinary and beyond parody: pic.twitter.com/EURtXsP44f

A reporter rightly asks Von Der Leyen "What are the US concessions? What is the US giving up in the deal"

VDL's reply is that there was none because "the starting point was an imbalance, a surplus on...

— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) July 28, 2025

[Ulrich]

Leaders from Europe's two largest economies have led a chorus of gloomy reactions to the trade deal struck between EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the agreement would "substantially damage" his nation's finances, while French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said it was tantamount to "submission".

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3ez97zv5y5o

[MeltingMan]

Tariffs of 15% are difficult to understand in the 21st century.

(Ulrike Malmendier via AFP Germany)

PS: You don't have to be an economic expert to see that this agreement is one-sided. The difference is: the EU has a war on its doorstep, and the Americans don't. We didn't want this war, but all the costs will be passed on to future EU citizens. Trump should publicly acknowledge that the EU is averting his country's potential national bankruptcy. Winners look different. 

[dsanchez]

"A group of children sitting obediently before their master"

https://x.com/Zlatti_71/status/1957669574398050379

[Ulrich]

"A group of children sitting obediently before their master"

Not true. As I pointed out elsewhere already, chancellor Merz had the balls to say to Trump that a ceasefire is needed (while most others said "thank you"). 

Trump replied that he brought peace to various conflicts without using the word "ceasefire" at all. Which was proven untrue, apparently he used the word almost all the time in recent months... 

[dsanchez]

Not true.

Are you joking? A picture says a thousand hours. A picture of Trump with European leaders arounds his desk is short of embarrassing, if not humiliating. Foubert says it better:

European leaders rushed to Washington in numbers, desperate to be seen, desperate to be heard. They came not as partners but as petitioners, waiting for the word of one man who now holds all the cards.

Trump decided what was discussed, what was promised, what was left unsaid. Europe brought no strategy, no leverage, no vision — only a need for American approval. The presidents and prime ministers of the continent behaved less like sovereigns and more like consultants, called in to nod along to decisions already made elsewhere.

This is what Europe has become: a collection of figures with titles but no power, nations with histories but no agency. The real choices are made in Washington, while Brussels organizes paperwork to disguise its irrelevance. Europe once dictated terms to the world. Now these people waits for instructions.

https://x.com/Arrogance_0024/status/1957751049785340198

[Ulrich]

Are you joking?

Of course not. I saw parts of it live on telly, they were not sitting like that when they talked (that is one photo probably taken only at the first greet)!
And it is a matter of fact what Merz said to him (heard it live).

In this pic you can see how they were sitting when they discussed: