Presented by Google.

Hey, good morning, Playbookers. It's Friday, June 11th. I'm Rugamuna Vallin, and this is your Politico Playbook Daily Briefing.

When we talk to European diplomats and officials, they all say the same thing. The Joe Biden presidency is a sigh of relief after the, quote,

near-death experience of Donald Trump. The past five years have made them acutely aware of U.S. domestic

policies, specifically, an American electorate that's drifted away from the internationalism

of Barack Obama toward Trump's isolationism. Spoiler alert Trump lost, but his America

first message will be front and center in Republican policies, whether it's from Trump himself

or someone else, and Democrats will need to have a credible response. This week, we checked in with

the former U.S. ambassador to the EU, Anthony Gardner, about Biden's first

foreign trip. Gardner has a unique perspective. He was widely respected in Brussels during

Obama's second term. He advised Biden's 2020 campaign, and he served as co-chair of the EU

working group during the first month of the Biden administration. Gardner had some tough

advice for Europe if they want to avoid a Trump

comeback. Give Biden a win on China, not just mere assurances of cooperation, or niceties about the

change in tone from America. Give him an actual victory that he can use to neutralize the lingering

message of Trump. He tells us, there's always that risk of a Trump revival. Quote, that's exactly why

you in Europe should think about how you want to contribute to the success of the administration.

Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken said in March that the U.S. won't make its European allies

choose between us or China, but Gardner sees it differently. There's a short window for Biden and

the Democratic Party to prove to the electorate that Europe is worth our time.

And that Trump's go-it-alone policy on China didn't work. That means working together on trade, using the power of the WTO to close off markets to China, and getting tough on Chinese subsidies and IP violations.

These are the issues that Gardner believes that

...