The Transatlantic Partnership Rewritten : How Trump’s Return has Disrupted the EU’s Identity Foundations

This paper will examine how Donald Trump’s return has reshaped the European Union by challenging the identity foundations on which the EU-US strategic partnership has long rested. This partnership is based on the assumption that it has not only provided the institutional infrastructure for coordinated action between the EU and the US, but has also served as a central reference point for the EU to define itself as part of a wider liberal, democratic, and Western community. Even during periods of political tension, the EU has always assumed a basic alignment of values and strategic objectives with the US. However, Trump’s return has undermined this assumption, forcing the EU to confront the fragility of an identity anchored in transatlantic continuity. The erosion of this identity frame has become visible in the way the current US administration reinterprets the partnership. Washington no longer presents Europe as a natural ally but as an economic competitor whose regulatory and industrial choices constrain American interests. Furthermore, it openly questions the legitimacy of the European project, encourages Eurosceptic and far-right actors, and challenges the very foundations of the EU’s liberal nature. This weakens the idea of a unified “West” and fuels a deeper identity crisis within Europe. As a result, the EU’s long-held belief that shared values form the core of the transatlantic relationship is becoming increasingly difficult to uphold. Furthermore, it mark a departure from Europe’s previous confidence in projecting rules-based principles supported, implicitly or explicitly, by US leadership. This shift has been reinforced by threats of tariffs, pushback against EU regulatory efforts, and an overt tying of U.S. security commitments to European concessions on trade and digital policy. Together, these moves have transformed the relationship from one rooted in stable, institutional cooperation to one defined by leverage and transactional bargaining. The European Commission’s response has been particularly accommodating, towards U.S. demands, with concessions being a central feature. Instead of shaping the global agenda as a self-assured normative power, the EU now seeks to manage vulnerabilities created by its main strategic partner and ally. The EU’s global influence is also affected by these factors. With the United States no longer a reliable reference point, the EU must broaden its partnerships with other like-minded nations in order to maintain its global standing. The war in Ukraine has intensified identity and strategic tensions. The mixed signals towards both Kyiv and Moscow have heightened European worries about the reliability of American commitments and reinforced the perception that key strategic decisions might be taken without the EU or Europeans involved. This uncertainty, in the short term, highlights Europe’s reliance on U.S. military capabilities. However, in the longer term, it fuels debates and plans for European strategic autonomy. Investments in defence and industrial sovereignty emerge as steps towards a long-term decoupling strategy. The paper will argue that Trump’s return is testing the EU’s ability to preserve cooperation while asserting agency and redefining its place in a world where its traditional identity anchor no longer reinforces its principles.