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Speaking as a European, current foreign policy is not "reducing trust in America as a reliable and stable partner". It has already reduced trust to rock bottom.

Speaking as a European, current foreign policy is not "reducing trust in America as a reliable and stable partner". It has already reduced trust to rock bottom. It's hard to see how much worse it could get, short of outright invasion or allying with Russia. Just this week, amongst other news: * America's useless adventures in Iran have used up so many Patriot missiles there aren't any left to defend Kyiv against Russian missiles, while Iran is still firmly in control of the Straits of Hormuz. * Meddling in Greenland went up a notch with landing equipment to start oil drilling. * State Department funding MAGA-oriented "free speech" disinformation campaigns in the UK. * The revival of Trump's tariffs under the hypocritical guise of guarding against slave labour. Especially when the US prison system is such a large domestic source of slave labour. Zero trust left here. Zero desire to visit the US ever again.

amarcheschi 1mo ago
I feel it is hard to grasp for an American how much perception of US shifted in eu. This is just anedoctal of course, but a famous Italian singer famous for having written a song about American and sexual liberation decades ago, wrote an updated version. The former is "America", the latter is "America INC." You can guess which one depicts America in a bad light. I wouldn't have expected a famous singer to make such a song, given that America was always portrayed in italian pop music with a positive image, and negative views were relegated to mostly political groups or singers with political themes
- xyzelement 1mo ago
  [flagged]
  - mschuster91 1mo ago
    > Will my kids be an ethnic minority in their own country in the next generation I didn’t expect having to read great replacement bullshit on Hacker News. JFC do some napkin math, it’s utter nonsense.
    - surgical_fire 1mo ago
      It's pervasive. Especially when it is people from the US commenting on the EU.
      - jurgenburgen 1mo ago
        It’s MAGA ideology and commenters mentioning it are just revealing their red hats. Any Europeans regurgitating that _foreign_ ideology are pathetic.
        k33n 1mo ago
        [flagged]
      - ipaddr 1mo ago
        [flagged]
        surgical_fire 1mo ago
        It's not some chaps from Eastern Europe, Latin America, or Africa that threaten me. My neighbor is Nigerian, dude is chill. Loves football, takes his children to the local playground, etc. What threatens me is imbeciles that believe in great replacement and 14 words about future for white children. Keep your racism across the pond and try not to breed with siblings.
        ipaddr 1mo ago
        [flagged]
        surgical_fire 1mo ago
        I both don't believe that the white population is being replaced, and even if it was, I don't care. I am not a racist, my family tree does not resemble a circle. Issues of migration and fertility rate are related to structural incentives and constraints, level of urbanization, economic development, etc. I want my country to prosper. It won't prosper by closing itself off to migration. I hope it attracts more researches and highly educated people from around the world, especially now that the US is shunning them.
  - Hnrobert42 1mo ago
    > Will my kids be an ethnic minority in their own country in the next generation - and if so, what's that going to be like for them? What about this is an essential concern for you? Like, what are the potential harms?
    - fabioborellini 1mo ago
      He knows how white Americans treat minorities
      - andsoitis 1mo ago
        [flagged]
    - andsoitis 1mo ago
      > > Will my kids be an ethnic minority in their own country in the next generation - and if so, what's that going to be like for them? > What about this is an essential concern for you? Like, what are the potential harms? European countries take great care in maintaining and strengthening their traditions and cultural heritage. That would be at risk. Now, whether or not that actually matters or not is debatable, but Europeans DO seem to care to keep their cultures and traditions alive.
      - kwdev 1mo ago
        This fear of "the others" that don't look like us or dare to have their own culture coming and "stealing" your cake has been used as a cheap distraction tactic for ages. It backfired for Germany, it's gonna backfire for the US. I really like this metaphor: A politician, a voter, and an immigrant are at a BBQ. There's 100 sausages on the grill. The politician goes up, takes 99 sausages, turns to the voter and says "quick, that immigrant is gonna steal your sausage". It's truly frustrating how effective it is to distract the general population by just inciting fear like that. I lived all over the place after growing up in the Catholic German country side. I think the places most afraid from cultural dilution are the ones that needed it the most. It's also so funny how folks in the US keep forgetting that they literally used to be immigrants of all sorts of origins and what made them so successful is leveraging the diverse perspectives. Most of this whole AI boom is based on work from people that came to the US from less privileged places all working together for something greater than them.
  - DennisP 1mo ago
    The US has been the foundation of European security since the beginning of NATO. Now Europe has good reason to think that American security guarantees are no longer reliable, and the US president keeps threatening to invade a European country, while Russia fights a war of aggression nearby. If I were European then I guess I'd find this rather more worrying than brown people moving in, or the struggles of car companies.
    - andsoitis 1mo ago
      > If I were European then I guess I'd find this rather more worrying than brown people moving in What does "brown people" mean? It seems like such a superficially racist characterization.
      - DennisP 1mo ago
        I assumed that was what the commenter above was talking about, but perhaps I'm wrong. From the little I know about it, most of the immigrants that right-wing Europeans complain about are from places to the south. In case my understatement made things unclear, it's not the sort of thing I worry about at all.
        andsoitis 1mo ago
        > most of the immigrants.... are from places to the south. and hence "brown"? What does that terminology even mean?
        DennisP 1mo ago
        Are you not aware of the protective effects of melanin from higher levels of UV?
        andsoitis 1mo ago
        > Are you not aware of the protective effects of melanin from higher levels of UV? You're missing the point.
  - surgical_fire 1mo ago
    I live in Europe, and I have a family. If you are not a moronic racist, #1 is a non-issue. As for #2, Volkswagen is far from going out of business. In any case, trade with China can be adjusted with adequate policy, EU as a trade block can handle it just fine. As an European, I see the US as an actual existential threat to Europe. China is just a trade partner with some clashing trade interests.
  - gizajob 1mo ago
    Only if you're some kind of lunatic, propaganda-believing racist.
    - ipaddr 1mo ago
      [flagged]
      - gizajob 1mo ago
        When were European countries set up as ethnostates for the OP to be even slightly in the realm of facts?
  - latexr 1mo ago
    > Will my kids be an ethnic minority in their own country in the next generation - and if so, what's that going to be like for them? It occurs to me that an effective solution to that problem might be to… Treat minorities well? You know, like people equal to you? Societies are made of the people in them; if minorities are treated positively, then you don’t have to fear being in one. Teach your kids to be nice.
  - khriss 1mo ago
    > Will my kids be an ethnic minority in their own country in the next generation - and if so, what's that going to be like for them? Are you sure they are not more concerned about 'Will my kids be able to get a good job, own a house and generally be at least as prosperous as me, if not more?'
    - ipaddr 1mo ago
      But they won't get good jobs or own a house because they will be second class citizens. Your generation made poor choices and they will suffer.
      - danaris 1mo ago
        You know what the best way is to ensure that your children don't become second-class citizens because they're an ethnic minority? Treat the ethnic minorities well today. Lay the foundation for an inclusive, multicultural society now, rather than falling for the same old bullshit about immigrants stealing yer jerbs and using that as an excuse for rampant racism that will reverberate down the line.
    - xyzelement 1mo ago
      That's item 2.
- StilesCrisis 1mo ago
  Why do you think Americans don't grasp it? There are really two groups here: - MAGA who doesn't care what Europe thinks - not-MAGA who are just as shocked and disappointed as everyone else on the planet
  - amarcheschi 1mo ago
    Simply put, I think Americans don't grasp it because even for us Europeans it is sometimes surprising how repentine and fast the shift has been in the regular Joe's brain - I'm not saying that Americans are stupid bla bla thing -, I'm saying that it is normal not be as up to date with some phenomena as people living where that phenomena happens. Also, at least the Italian government is still dancing the tip tap regarding a position on America, not taking any definitive stance or doing anything significantly different than before, which is a big rift wrt what people want. Only exception for defense expenses
  - vrganj 1mo ago
    I don't think the first group understands how important Europe is to America's status as superpower, while the second group operates under the delusion that the world will go back to business as usual after the next presidential election.
    - davkan 1mo ago
      Only the elderly who are blind to the decline and can’t even picture a world order outside other than Pax Americana believe we will go back to business as usual. The rest of us realize it will take decades of stability to gain a semblance of the trust we used to be granted. And in the mean time the rest of the world will forge ties that don’t include us. We will be weakened on the world stage compared to status quo prior to trump for the rest of my life I’m sure.
    - wat10000 1mo ago
      Plenty of us in the second group don't think the world will go back to business as usual.
ungovernableCat 1mo ago
There is a lot of that with the population but I don't see it at the leadership level yet. The top politicians are all still desperate to go back to the good old days of euro-atlanticism (and all the cushy positions it gets their friends & family), there's also the problem of all of their capital happily sitting and growing in fortune 500 companies.
Hnrobert42 1mo ago
That is an indisputably rough list, and I'm sorry that's your conclusion. It's tough being here and feeling powerless to stop it. Beyond voting, campaign donations, judicious choice of employment, etc. Anyhow, you're welcome back should you change your mind. In my book, anyway.
- spiderfarmer 1mo ago
  > feeling powerless to stop it You guys are the meekest sheep to ever been led astray by a howling, undisguised wolf. What more does this regime have to do to warrant massive, historic, disruptive, non-peaceful protests in the USA? Have you seen protests in France? Bringing the country to a halt is the least you have to do in order for us to ever have faith in the USA again. Until then, nothing any US citizen can say online will do anything to restore trust. If you're not rioting, you're complicit. It's as simple as that.
  - Henchman21 1mo ago
    Where do you live? Does everyone have an AR-15 in their closet? You do not seem to grasp the reality of our situation.
  - techdmn 1mo ago
    I admit I haven't followed the French protests as closely as I should have. Do they shoot protestors in the face with teargas canisters there too? Maybe they do. Do those protestors face the real possibility of medical bankruptcy if they need extensive care? Does France enforce laws that protect striking workers?
    - techdmn 1mo ago
      To answer my own question: Yes, police in France also under scrutiny: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/france-once-again-criticised-un-its-polices-excessive-use-force https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/france-once-again-critici...
    - spiderfarmer 1mo ago
andsoitis 1mo ago
> It's hard to see how much worse it could get, short of outright invasion or allying with Russia. Why would the US ally with Russia, who is a Chinese and Iranian ally? That's just uncritical thinking. The United States is the single largest bilateral provider of direct military equipment, intelligence, and defense funding to Ukraine (a European country) against Russia.
- latexr 1mo ago
  > Why would the US ally with Russia, who is a Chinese and Iranian ally? I don’t think the comment above you is suggesting that is a possibility, but rather saying “things are so bad that the only imaginable way to get worse would be <outlandish unimaginable scenario>”. In other words, it seems to be hyperbole.
  - andsoitis 1mo ago
    Perhaps, though my reading between the lines is that they think trust is so low because the US won't help defend Europe and might invade Europe, even though, despite rhetoric, all actions point to the opposite happening.
- bjelkeman-again 1mo ago
  It is, as the USA has a large population. We can be more nuanced. By absolute dollars, single country: US > EU institutions > Germany > UK By absolute dollars, bloc vs. bloc: EU/Europe combined (~$237bn+) now exceeds the US (~$130bn), especially after 2025 By per-capita/GDP burden: tiny front-line states (Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Norway) far outstrip both the US and the larger Western European economies — the US actually ranks closer to the bottom of the pack on a relative-effort basis, behind Germany, the UK, and virtually all Nordic/Baltic states Between February 2022 and January 2025, average expenditure per European resident stood at $394; by April 2026 that figure had risen to $618, driven by the total spending by European NATO countries on Ukraine exceeding $237 billion, including $96 billion contributed just since January 2025. Average European (across NATO's European members) $618 per person (2022-2026) United States (my estimate: ~$130bn total ÷ ~340m population)≈ $384 per person

amarcheschi 1mo ago

I feel it is hard to grasp for an American how much perception of US shifted in eu. This is just anedoctal of course, but a famous Italian singer famous for having written a song about American and sexual liberation decades ago, wrote an updated version. The former is "America", the latter is "America INC." You can guess which one depicts America in a bad light. I wouldn't have expected a famous singer to make such a song, given that America was always portrayed in italian pop music with a positive image, and negative views were relegated to mostly political groups or singers with political themes

xyzelement 1mo ago
[flagged]
- mschuster91 1mo ago
  > Will my kids be an ethnic minority in their own country in the next generation I didn’t expect having to read great replacement bullshit on Hacker News. JFC do some napkin math, it’s utter nonsense.
  - surgical_fire 1mo ago
    It's pervasive. Especially when it is people from the US commenting on the EU.
    - jurgenburgen 1mo ago
      It’s MAGA ideology and commenters mentioning it are just revealing their red hats. Any Europeans regurgitating that _foreign_ ideology are pathetic.
      - k33n 1mo ago
        [flagged]
    - ipaddr 1mo ago
      [flagged]
      - surgical_fire 1mo ago
        It's not some chaps from Eastern Europe, Latin America, or Africa that threaten me. My neighbor is Nigerian, dude is chill. Loves football, takes his children to the local playground, etc. What threatens me is imbeciles that believe in great replacement and 14 words about future for white children. Keep your racism across the pond and try not to breed with siblings.
        ipaddr 1mo ago
        [flagged]
        surgical_fire 1mo ago
        I both don't believe that the white population is being replaced, and even if it was, I don't care. I am not a racist, my family tree does not resemble a circle. Issues of migration and fertility rate are related to structural incentives and constraints, level of urbanization, economic development, etc. I want my country to prosper. It won't prosper by closing itself off to migration. I hope it attracts more researches and highly educated people from around the world, especially now that the US is shunning them.
- Hnrobert42 1mo ago
  > Will my kids be an ethnic minority in their own country in the next generation - and if so, what's that going to be like for them? What about this is an essential concern for you? Like, what are the potential harms?
  - fabioborellini 1mo ago
    He knows how white Americans treat minorities
    - andsoitis 1mo ago
      [flagged]
  - andsoitis 1mo ago
    > > Will my kids be an ethnic minority in their own country in the next generation - and if so, what's that going to be like for them? > What about this is an essential concern for you? Like, what are the potential harms? European countries take great care in maintaining and strengthening their traditions and cultural heritage. That would be at risk. Now, whether or not that actually matters or not is debatable, but Europeans DO seem to care to keep their cultures and traditions alive.
    - kwdev 1mo ago
      This fear of "the others" that don't look like us or dare to have their own culture coming and "stealing" your cake has been used as a cheap distraction tactic for ages. It backfired for Germany, it's gonna backfire for the US. I really like this metaphor: A politician, a voter, and an immigrant are at a BBQ. There's 100 sausages on the grill. The politician goes up, takes 99 sausages, turns to the voter and says "quick, that immigrant is gonna steal your sausage". It's truly frustrating how effective it is to distract the general population by just inciting fear like that. I lived all over the place after growing up in the Catholic German country side. I think the places most afraid from cultural dilution are the ones that needed it the most. It's also so funny how folks in the US keep forgetting that they literally used to be immigrants of all sorts of origins and what made them so successful is leveraging the diverse perspectives. Most of this whole AI boom is based on work from people that came to the US from less privileged places all working together for something greater than them.
- DennisP 1mo ago
  The US has been the foundation of European security since the beginning of NATO. Now Europe has good reason to think that American security guarantees are no longer reliable, and the US president keeps threatening to invade a European country, while Russia fights a war of aggression nearby. If I were European then I guess I'd find this rather more worrying than brown people moving in, or the struggles of car companies.
  - andsoitis 1mo ago
    > If I were European then I guess I'd find this rather more worrying than brown people moving in What does "brown people" mean? It seems like such a superficially racist characterization.
    - DennisP 1mo ago
      I assumed that was what the commenter above was talking about, but perhaps I'm wrong. From the little I know about it, most of the immigrants that right-wing Europeans complain about are from places to the south. In case my understatement made things unclear, it's not the sort of thing I worry about at all.
      - andsoitis 1mo ago
        > most of the immigrants.... are from places to the south. and hence "brown"? What does that terminology even mean?
        DennisP 1mo ago
        Are you not aware of the protective effects of melanin from higher levels of UV?
        andsoitis 1mo ago
        > Are you not aware of the protective effects of melanin from higher levels of UV? You're missing the point.
- surgical_fire 1mo ago
  I live in Europe, and I have a family. If you are not a moronic racist, #1 is a non-issue. As for #2, Volkswagen is far from going out of business. In any case, trade with China can be adjusted with adequate policy, EU as a trade block can handle it just fine. As an European, I see the US as an actual existential threat to Europe. China is just a trade partner with some clashing trade interests.
- gizajob 1mo ago
  Only if you're some kind of lunatic, propaganda-believing racist.
  - ipaddr 1mo ago
    [flagged]
    - gizajob 1mo ago
      When were European countries set up as ethnostates for the OP to be even slightly in the realm of facts?
- latexr 1mo ago
  > Will my kids be an ethnic minority in their own country in the next generation - and if so, what's that going to be like for them? It occurs to me that an effective solution to that problem might be to… Treat minorities well? You know, like people equal to you? Societies are made of the people in them; if minorities are treated positively, then you don’t have to fear being in one. Teach your kids to be nice.
- khriss 1mo ago
  > Will my kids be an ethnic minority in their own country in the next generation - and if so, what's that going to be like for them? Are you sure they are not more concerned about 'Will my kids be able to get a good job, own a house and generally be at least as prosperous as me, if not more?'
  - ipaddr 1mo ago
    But they won't get good jobs or own a house because they will be second class citizens. Your generation made poor choices and they will suffer.
    - danaris 1mo ago
      You know what the best way is to ensure that your children don't become second-class citizens because they're an ethnic minority? Treat the ethnic minorities well today. Lay the foundation for an inclusive, multicultural society now, rather than falling for the same old bullshit about immigrants stealing yer jerbs and using that as an excuse for rampant racism that will reverberate down the line.
  - xyzelement 1mo ago
    That's item 2.
StilesCrisis 1mo ago
Why do you think Americans don't grasp it? There are really two groups here: - MAGA who doesn't care what Europe thinks - not-MAGA who are just as shocked and disappointed as everyone else on the planet
- amarcheschi 1mo ago
  Simply put, I think Americans don't grasp it because even for us Europeans it is sometimes surprising how repentine and fast the shift has been in the regular Joe's brain - I'm not saying that Americans are stupid bla bla thing -, I'm saying that it is normal not be as up to date with some phenomena as people living where that phenomena happens. Also, at least the Italian government is still dancing the tip tap regarding a position on America, not taking any definitive stance or doing anything significantly different than before, which is a big rift wrt what people want. Only exception for defense expenses
- vrganj 1mo ago
  I don't think the first group understands how important Europe is to America's status as superpower, while the second group operates under the delusion that the world will go back to business as usual after the next presidential election.
  - davkan 1mo ago
    Only the elderly who are blind to the decline and can’t even picture a world order outside other than Pax Americana believe we will go back to business as usual. The rest of us realize it will take decades of stability to gain a semblance of the trust we used to be granted. And in the mean time the rest of the world will forge ties that don’t include us. We will be weakened on the world stage compared to status quo prior to trump for the rest of my life I’m sure.
  - wat10000 1mo ago
    Plenty of us in the second group don't think the world will go back to business as usual.

ungovernableCat 1mo ago

There is a lot of that with the population but I don't see it at the leadership level yet. The top politicians are all still desperate to go back to the good old days of euro-atlanticism (and all the cushy positions it gets their friends & family), there's also the problem of all of their capital happily sitting and growing in fortune 500 companies.

Hnrobert42 1mo ago

That is an indisputably rough list, and I'm sorry that's your conclusion. It's tough being here and feeling powerless to stop it. Beyond voting, campaign donations, judicious choice of employment, etc. Anyhow, you're welcome back should you change your mind. In my book, anyway.

spiderfarmer 1mo ago
> feeling powerless to stop it You guys are the meekest sheep to ever been led astray by a howling, undisguised wolf. What more does this regime have to do to warrant massive, historic, disruptive, non-peaceful protests in the USA? Have you seen protests in France? Bringing the country to a halt is the least you have to do in order for us to ever have faith in the USA again. Until then, nothing any US citizen can say online will do anything to restore trust. If you're not rioting, you're complicit. It's as simple as that.
- Henchman21 1mo ago
  Where do you live? Does everyone have an AR-15 in their closet? You do not seem to grasp the reality of our situation.
- techdmn 1mo ago
  I admit I haven't followed the French protests as closely as I should have. Do they shoot protestors in the face with teargas canisters there too? Maybe they do. Do those protestors face the real possibility of medical bankruptcy if they need extensive care? Does France enforce laws that protect striking workers?
  - techdmn 1mo ago
    To answer my own question: Yes, police in France also under scrutiny: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/france-once-again-criticised-un-its-polices-excessive-use-force https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/france-once-again-critici...
  - spiderfarmer 1mo ago

andsoitis 1mo ago

> It's hard to see how much worse it could get, short of outright invasion or allying with Russia. Why would the US ally with Russia, who is a Chinese and Iranian ally? That's just uncritical thinking. The United States is the single largest bilateral provider of direct military equipment, intelligence, and defense funding to Ukraine (a European country) against Russia.

latexr 1mo ago
> Why would the US ally with Russia, who is a Chinese and Iranian ally? I don’t think the comment above you is suggesting that is a possibility, but rather saying “things are so bad that the only imaginable way to get worse would be <outlandish unimaginable scenario>”. In other words, it seems to be hyperbole.
- andsoitis 1mo ago
  Perhaps, though my reading between the lines is that they think trust is so low because the US won't help defend Europe and might invade Europe, even though, despite rhetoric, all actions point to the opposite happening.
bjelkeman-again 1mo ago
It is, as the USA has a large population. We can be more nuanced. By absolute dollars, single country: US > EU institutions > Germany > UK By absolute dollars, bloc vs. bloc: EU/Europe combined (~$237bn+) now exceeds the US (~$130bn), especially after 2025 By per-capita/GDP burden: tiny front-line states (Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Norway) far outstrip both the US and the larger Western European economies — the US actually ranks closer to the bottom of the pack on a relative-effort basis, behind Germany, the UK, and virtually all Nordic/Baltic states Between February 2022 and January 2025, average expenditure per European resident stood at $394; by April 2026 that figure had risen to $618, driven by the total spending by European NATO countries on Ukraine exceeding $237 billion, including $96 billion contributed just since January 2025. Average European (across NATO's European members) $618 per person (2022-2026) United States (my estimate: ~$130bn total ÷ ~340m population)≈ $384 per person