Europe, United States In Europe, Biden Hopes to Ease Fears of an American Return to Trumpism

As President Joe Biden heads to Europe this weekend declaring “America’s back,” he also will try to convince nervous allies that the Donald Trump era in American politics was an unwelcome anomaly that won’t return in two or four years, and that his election and policies are proof positive of it, a top White House advisor said Monday...

But for some allies, the memory of Trump and the possibility that American voters could elect politicians with similar world views in the 2022 midterm elections or 2024 presidential election is at the front of their mind, said former diplomat Alexander Vershbow, who has served as NATO deputy secretary general and ambassador to Russia.

“The NATO summit can be viewed as a kind of reset for the transatlantic relations after four turbulent years under Donald Trump,” Vershbow, a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council, said Friday on a press call hosted by the think tank. “The allies are quite relieved that the U.S. has, as they see it, returned to normal. ...But, with that being said, the allies do have lingering concerns about the forces that produced Trump’s election in 2016 and are wondering whether those forces are gone for good or the possibility the U.S. could shift back to a more contentious, more transactional approach to NATO.”

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