Can Europe’s Trump counterpunch work? Sanctions, tariffs and a MAGA twist.

EU Confidential

POLITICO

Politics, News Commentary, News

4.4 • 175 Ratings

🗓️ 6 June 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Trump is finally facing some resistance. Can Europe seize the moment? This week on EU Confidential, host Sarah Wheaton speaks with Swedish Member of the European Parliament Karin Karlsbro, just back from Washington, about how Brussels is reading the room in D.C. — and whether there’s any real appetite for a “beautiful trade deal” before Trump’s July tariff deadline. We also hear from POLITICO’s news editor Josh Berlinger in Paris and national security reporter Amy Mackinnon in Washington, as they unpack a rare burst of old-school transatlantic coordination — with U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal crisscrossing Europe to rally support for sweeping new sanctions on Russia. Plus: What Poland’s surprise presidential result — and a MAGA-adjacent win — could mean for Donald Tusk and the EU. And do start eyeing your bookshelf as we call for summer reading tips. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Today's episode is presented by Instagram.
0:03.7	Instagram is calling for EU regulation requiring age verification and parental approval at the app store where apps are downloaded.
0:11.2	To give parents more control over which apps their teens download.
0:14.9	To learn more, visit Instagram.com slash parental approval.
0:20.4	Hi, I'm Jack Flanchard, Playbooks managing editor and author.
0:24.2	And I'm Dasha Burns, Politico White House Bureau Chief and Chief Playbook correspondent,
0:28.7	and we are the new hosts of the Playbook podcast.
0:32.0	Every morning, Dasha and I dig into the top story of the day and give you some analysis
0:36.1	and insight into what's really
0:37.9	going on in D.C. and the world. So join us every weekday morning. Listen to the Playbook podcast
0:44.1	wherever you get your podcast.
0:48.9	Trump started out with shock and awe. Now it seems the establishment is waking up from its stupor and starting to
1:00.5	fight back. Courts are questioning his trade war. Putin is ignoring his plans to end the Ukraine
1:08.3	war. And even Trump's own allies in Congress are looking
1:12.4	for ways to team up with Europe to defend the old rules-based order.
1:22.2	Take these two U.S. senators who were just touring Europe. Lindsey Graham, a Republican, is one of Trump's top
1:29.0	advisors on foreign policy, but he is insisting that it's time to jam eye-watering tariffs on Russia,
1:35.9	and any country that dares buy Putin's oil. In an era of toxic polarization, Graham and Democratic
1:43.0	Senator Richard Blumenthal are on a bipartisan
1:45.6	mission to boost the transatlantic relationship in support of Ukraine.
1:50.3	It's feeling downright retro, especially as EU-US trade talks head into a final five-week
1:57.0	countdown.
	...

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