This is unearthed from that fateful day of August 15, 2025, when then U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin high-fived in Alaska. This meeting was a historic point in their complementary and continued conversations. The meeting revealed deep ties of mutual interest in overturning the political order in Europe. They appeared to come together on their hatred of liberal democracy and multiculturalism.
During the meeting, Trump and Putin discussed various political strategies, emphasizing that free speech was only permissible when speakers aligned with their views. Unlike his approach in Venezuela, Canada, or Greenland, Trump doesn’t want to physically subjugate Europe. Both leaders are doing a great deal, if not more, to undermine the European Union from the inside out.
At first, as they were negotiating back and forth Trump and Putin realized there was no official deal on the table. Their conception was nothing like the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. For one thing, it is no secret that Trump unequivocally opposes resuming direct military assistance to Ukraine. He’s recently ruled out any penalties for Russian aggressions in NATO member states. This refusal is more than a one-off reversal of U.S. foreign policy, dictated by the whims of Trump. He is trying to normalize relations with Russia, despite ongoing tensions over Ukraine.
“Some of its most fundamental values.” – The Guardian
At times, Trump seemed angry and even suicidal. Shishkin claims that Putin has “disappointed” him after not being able to negotiate an agreement that would suit both sides. And now, with Trump repeatedly trying to consolidate his relationship with Russia. Meanwhile, he supports the political fortunes of his allies while trying to undermine unity in the EU.
Putin’s objectives are markedly more aggressive and less nuanced than Trump’s. He undermines Europe’s open societies by doing so. Employing hybrid warfare tactics, he rains down cyber-attacks and disinformation campaigns that plunge Western European nations into chaos. These tactics allow him to upend political terrains and fund far-right, populist-nationalist parties around the world, which cohere to Trump’s ideological worldview.
Both leaders continue to work hard to elevate their ideological friends, while trying to tamp down progressive movements across Europe. Their political pressure campaigns mutually support one another. Together, we’ve learned, they seek to destabilize the European Union and subvert its fundamental tenets of democracy and equal rights. Political analysts have sounded the alarm on this unusual partnership. It might return us to the age of strongmen, like Europe before World War II, they worry.
Today For the past few years, Trump has virtually endorsed European hard-right parties and nationalist politicians whose vision matches his own. This endorsement would do the opposite, further inflaming division within the EU. Like him, Putin views the EU as an obstacle to his regional ambitions. These acts and this rhetoric have fostered a climate in which extremist hate-filled views can prosper, threatening the very foundation of Europe’s democratic institutions.
The implications of this convening go far beyond symbolic toking and speeches. As Trump and Putin roll forward in their evolving partnership, the stakes for European democracies couldn’t be higher. Political observers note that the erosion of democratic values plays directly into the hands of both leaders, who are keen on dismantling what they perceive as impediments to their populist ideologies.
This unfortunate convergence between what Trump and Putin want to see exposes a highly dangerous realignment that threatens the future of European democracies. Their partnership erodes traditional party lines. It fosters a chilling effect for its people who love democracy to thrive.