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Why have Europeans surrendered to Trump?
In 2025, Europe endured a continental-scale humiliation. The EU and UK gave in to Donald Trump's tariff extortion - accepting lopsided trade deals, tribute-like payments and adjustments to domestic laws. At NATO, European leaders grovelled - calling the US president "daddy" even as he threatened to invade an EU country's territory. "They call me the president of Europe," Trump bragged. Terrified of losing US protection from Russia, European leaders have accepted terms that echo the coersion once imposed on China during its 'century of humiliation'. Yet citizens accepted it. Why?
Journalist Dave Keating says the reason goes far beyond geopolitics. America permeates Europeans' daily lives: television, music, news, technology, commerce and social media all create psychological dependence. Many Europeans feel so culturally intertwined with the US it's almost like they live in it - making it hard to imagine America as anything other than a friend. That, Keating contends, is why Europeans capitulated while other global powers didn't. And it's why so many can't accept that the threats to Europe don't just come from the East, they also come from the West.
The Owned Continent offers a blunt assessment of Europe's dependence and describes how Trump has exploited it. Yet Keating also proposes a way out: six essential steps to reclaim strategic autonomy and escape Washington's control - by using the power of the European Union.
About the author:
Dave Keating is an American-European journalist in Brussels who has covered EU politics for 20 years. He is a TV correspondent and the author of Gulf Stream Blues on Substack, known for his clear, accessible analysis. A former Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council and the editor of EuropeanVoice.com, he was ranked the top EU social media influencer in 2023. Keating draws upon his on-the-ground reporting experience in London, Brussels, Paris, Prague, Berlin, New York, Chicago and Washington to provide context for European political developments.
In 2025, Europe endured a continental-scale humiliation. The EU and UK gave in to Donald Trump's tariff extortion - accepting lopsided trade deals, tribute-like payments and adjustments to domestic laws. At NATO, European leaders grovelled - calling the US president "daddy" even as he threatened to invade an EU country's territory. "They call me the president of Europe," Trump bragged. Terrified of losing US protection from Russia, European leaders have accepted terms that echo the coersion once imposed on China during its 'century of humiliation'. Yet citizens accepted it. Why?
Journalist Dave Keating says the reason goes far beyond geopolitics. America permeates Europeans' daily lives: television, music, news, technology, commerce and social media all create psychological dependence. Many Europeans feel so culturally intertwined with the US it's almost like they live in it - making it hard to imagine America as anything other than a friend. That, Keating contends, is why Europeans capitulated while other global powers didn't. And it's why so many can't accept that the threats to Europe don't just come from the East, they also come from the West.
The Owned Continent offers a blunt assessment of Europe's dependence and describes how Trump has exploited it. Yet Keating also proposes a way out: six essential steps to reclaim strategic autonomy and escape Washington's control - by using the power of the European Union.
About the author:
Dave Keating is an American-European journalist in Brussels who has covered EU politics for 20 years. He is a TV correspondent and the author of Gulf Stream Blues on Substack, known for his clear, accessible analysis. A former Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council and the editor of EuropeanVoice.com, he was ranked the top EU social media influencer in 2023. Keating draws upon his on-the-ground reporting experience in London, Brussels, Paris, Prague, Berlin, New York, Chicago and Washington to provide context for European political developments.