Europe Has Found Its Formula for Managing Trump

Opinion|Europe Has Found Its Formula for Managing Trump

To some, the row of European leaders who faced President Trump in the White House last week looked like nothing so much as schoolchildren called to the principal’s office.

But consider Mr. Trump’s view across the Resolute Desk: a united group of European leaders. The collective visit to Washington, seen from this other angle, might look more like a flash of diplomatic inspiration.

Europe has found its formula for dealing with Mr. Trump on Ukraine: First, flatter. Praise his strength, his commitment to peace and his capacities as a deal maker. Second, try, in increments, to turn him against Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin — something that Mr. Putin, despite his best efforts, seems unable to do himself.

Last week this strategy worked again. When Mr. Trump’s meeting with Mr. Putin in Alaska a few days earlier looked as if it might derail everything they’ve worked toward, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and the leaders of Britain, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, NATO and the European Commission rushed to Washington to drag the conversation away from territorial concessions and back toward security guarantees. The resulting meeting, by all accounts, was cordial and friendly, and Ukraine was granted another reprieve.

Europeans have discovered that, when it comes to managing Mr. Trump, they can quickly get on the same page and agree on what needs to be done. This is progress. The trouble is that they are expending vast amounts of energy just to keep everything in almost the same place. The next step is to take that newfound unity and translate it into a position of strength from which they can guide negotiations and support Ukraine on the battlefield.

It is always striking to see the European Union — one of the world’s largest economies and largest single market, with substantial political influence and the tangible potential to become a military power — being content to follow, rather than to lead. There seem to be two reasons for this: the learned habit of deferring to America and the reality that being a union does not necessarily mean being united, even on fundamental issues.