Donald Trump’s recent trip to Paris brought stability and order to a city – and continent – ravaged by war and terrorism, insidious secularism and bureaucratic deadlock, that has left the cradle of Western civilization a tired and worn-out shell of its former self. Over the last four years, Europe has faced its first all-out land land war in nearly eighty years, exacerbating crises — ranging from the barebones economic to existential questions of European identity — that have persisted for decades. The Ukraine war, which was completely avoidable, has left a weakened Europe even weaker – drained of vital resources, including vital economic resources and energy reserves, needed to sustain itself. Hundreds of thousands of lives on both sides of this futile endeavor have been lost – needlessly – further squandering the inheritance of two great civilizations, West and East, which are already on life support.
Europe is no longer the rising economic behemoth that not long ago surpassed the United States in gross domestic product shortly after the Second World War. Like its population, which has grown elderly and weak, Europe too has been enervated. This geopolitical enervation is an ongoing trend, only made worse by the influx of foreign migrants – many of them Arabs who practice Islam, a religion that has for centuries been hostile to European Christendom – who ransack city centers across the continent, replacing the native born population in the process, and wiping out millennia of history in one fell swoop.
Europe’s mounting woes, which have accelerated under the Biden years, make it more dependent on competitors of the United States – be it Russia or China or Africa or the Middle East – which only further accelerate the cultural decline, and depress Europe’s own confidence to emerge out of this now decades-long rut. Europe is bankrupt in so many ways: reproduction has tanked, economies have stagnated, debt has soared, and the once vigorous Christianity that placed God and Christ at the center of public life has been torn asunder, almost totally vanquished by the unforgiving hand of secularism.Subscribe
The rabid secularism which is the real cancer on the European continent – and symptom and cause of the West’s broader decline overall – has neutered the once vibrant and spirited leadership of that sacred land. Europe’s present leaders are desperately in search of guidance. Which explains why Donald Trump’s reemergence on the international arena brought so much fanfare, so much reassurance, indeed so much love.
The President-elect’s homecoming was underlined by the venue he selected for his comeback: Notre Dame. In 2018, a fire of still mysterious origin, erupted in that sacred temple – destroying a large part of the roof and flèche of that nine-century old cathedral. The immolation of one of Europe’s crown jewels was a tragedy all on its own. But it also was impossible to deny its greater symbolism– a metaphor for the destruction of Western civilization, and the death of God.
John F. Kennedy once called America “the daughter of Europe” in his own trip to Paris some sixty years ago. The destinies of America and Europe are interlinked, creating a bond that is singular on the world arena. America is the New World; Europe is the Old. Great societies age in similar ways to people: they become more needy and dependent with age, weaker and more short-sighted in their convictions and aptitude with time.
America thus has a role to play in Europe – given their shared, if disjointed histories, and common values – which include commitments to “individual freedom and sovereignty,” as the President opined in his famous 2017 Warsaw address, as well as exaltation of “the dignity of every human life.” In the West, Human dignity is rooted in the Biblical view that man is made in God’s image and likeness, this is the metaphysical bond – born of Christian principle – that ultimately binds America and Europe alike.
As a statesman, Donald Trump represents a radical departure from the laissez-faire attitudes of recent American presidents. Rather than let their inheritance give into every worst imaginable vice, as was customary under Biden, Obama, Bush, and Clinton, Donald Trump brings refreshing change in leadership: the stern yet abiding love of a wise father. Whereas the previous presidents would spoil Europe with an unchecked money flow, forfeiting their best-interests in the long term to satiate immediate appetites, Donald Trump offers a radical course correction. This requires Europe to become a little more independent. This is hardly a policy of abandonment, but one of responsibility, born out of realism and foresight.Subscribe
Donald Trump, far from the cruel or authoritarian leader-lie so many in the mainstream media would like to peddle, is really teaching an important, though forgotten, lesson to Europe and its leaders: independence is the way to survival and strength. In the past, a European leader like Volodymyr Zelenskyy could mouth off against a much larger Russia all he wanted, knowing his small country would always have the backing of a gratuitous and permissive America – whose own leadership would similarly forsake its inheritance, out of a misplaced sense of mercy and compassion, and run up the debt in a grievous abdication of personal responsibility.
Donald Trump, in sharp contrast, realizes that a Europe artificially propped up by the United States is hardly the sign of strength: it is the ultimate sign of weakness. When they are behaving like children (as they are wont to do), Europe’s leaders will begrudge the prospect of having to gradually fend for themselves. Yet those infantile impulses soon give way once they sober up a little, and the more rational and cool-headed among them begin to see that the new change in direction is for their own good in the long run. This is the reverence and respect palpably on display by European leaders — from Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron, to Prince William — on President Trump’s recent visit to Paris.
A child that is utterly dependent on his parents – will never grow up strong. He will remain a stunted and etiolated version of his very best self, which is always tragic. Yet a parent who inculcates the harsher lessons of life and teaches his sons and daughters to fend for themselves will invariably be for the better. In today’s world, where regressive trends are gaining traction at rapacious speed, both on the society and individual level, creating a world that is morally and intellectually stunted, seemingly run by children where childlike impulses abound, the mature citizen – and the mature state – will rise far above the rest.
As the old proverb goes, “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” This is the lesson Donald Trump offers in his statesmanship to Europe. He is trying to remind that once great continent of its former glory and grandeur. Along the way, his administration hopes to revive that conviction of spirit Europe long harbored, essential to preserving its cherished civilization – and the countless fruits it yielded – long into the future.
Seven years ago, the President declared to a European audience: “The fundamental question of our time is whether the West has the will to survive. Do we have the confidence in our values to defend them at any cost? Do we have enough respect for our citizens to protect our borders? Do we have the desire and the courage to preserve our civilization in the face of those who would subvert and destroy it?”Subscribe
His remarks then, a forewarning and rallying cry, read as both indictment of the past decades of failed leadership, and roadmap for a way forward. Doom and gloom, decline and despair – negativity of all sorts – has been browbeaten into the European psyche by American leaders for decades now. They have lost faith in themselves, their past, and their potential for renewal.
Not anymore. Now, under President Donald Trump, optimism is in vogue, and hope has spread like wildfire the world over. Donald Trump is the living expression of that hope – a chance for renewal, or Renaissance for the West and for stability, order, and peace in a world growing darker and darker. Richard Nixon once intoned “the greatest honor history can bestow is the title of peacemaker.” In making Paris of all places his first stop abroad since being elected America’s 47th President, Donald Trump indicated to the world that peace throughout the West is achievable, decline is not inevitable, and a continent – embattled by so many afflictions – can be revived, so long as it can once more reclaim faith in its ability to charter its future destiny.
Paul Ingrassia is a Constitutional Scholar; Communications Director of the NCLU; a two-time Claremont Fellow, and is on the Board of Advisors of the New York Young Republican Club and the Italian American Civil Rights League. He writes a widely read Substack that is regularly posted on Truth Social by President Trump. Follow him on X @PaulIngrassia, Substack, Truth Social, Instagram, and Rumble.
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.
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