Claude Malhuret, a 75-year-old French center-right Senator is Donald Trump’s European nemesis. He calls Donald Trump an “incendiary emperor” who has “trampled on the Constitution” of the United States. This is an English translation of Malhuret’s speech at the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. It captures why we march on June 14th.
This is a message to my American friends.
A few weeks ago, during a speech at the French Senate, I asked this question: why, in the face of so many reckless decisions by their President, aren’t Americans reacting? Today, that question no longer stands: Americans have reacted. You have reacted. Protests in every major city, lawmakers challenged at town halls, governors refusing to enforce illegal executive orders, judges striking them down, plummeting approval ratings. This resistance is heartening
But I must also say this, with the frankness owed between friends: for now, the protests, the demonstrations, and the opposition have not prevented the situation from getting worse.
Every day brings a new batch of delusional announcements. Outlandish tariffs, arbitrary deportations, attacks on Social Security, pensions, free speech, education, justice, the Constitution, veterans, voter rights, universities, and science. Donald Trump doesn’t make decisions; he settles scores.
Each day, America's credibility erodes a little more. By crashing the stock market and the dollar, scaring off US bond buyers, walling off the country behind a tariff barrier, and, like Al Capone, telling allies they must pay up or face trouble, the man who claims he will make America great again is, in fact, diminishing it.
Every day, erratic measures increase uncertainty. Tariffs between 10% and 150% are paraded on television one day, only to be scrapped the next. A trade war is declared on China, then reversed within 48 hours. The President of the Federal Reserve is threatened with dismissal, only for Trump to backpedal when the markets collapse. Executive orders are challenged in court, adding to the chaos. Fog is the economy’s worst enemy, and the "Donald Crash" was inevitable. It will continue, in step with the flip-flopping of this reed painted in iron. Nobody knows what he will do after the ninety day "pause" — least of all apparently, Donald Trump himself.
Every day, loyalty is valued over expertise. Cabinet members are appointed not despite, but because of their incompetence. A Health Secretary who cannot locate his own gallbladder peddles half-baked theories on vaccines and the origins of AIDS. The Defense Secretary, between two sips of gin, chats online with friends and family about ongoing military operations, under the watchful eyes of intelligence services worldwide. The Chief Counselor for Trade — or rather the Chief Forger — invents a fake economist to back his absurd theories. The Ukraine negotiator has long-standing ties with an oligarch close to Putin. And as for the Vice President, he has managed the rare feat of becoming more despised across the United States — and Europe — within days, especially after his hate-filled speech in Munich. Listening to him, one can only imagine the endless toothache that must be his life. In a previous speech, I compared the new American administration to Nero’s court. It also looks like Caligula’s court — Caligula, who once appointed his horse as Consul. But at least his horse didn’t hurt anyone.
Every day in the Oval Office, seated in a chair matching his hair, Trump parades world leaders before the press like on a reality TV show — some stunned, others servile — seemingly wondering what they’re doing there, forced to endure speeches dripping with self-congratulation, ignorant vanity, boastful vulgarity, and a chronic overdose of himself. Now they know why they were invited — Trump has explained it: to "kiss his ass."
But the worst, of course, is the betrayal. Since the humiliation of Zelensky in the Oval Office — an incident that shocked the world, and many Americans — each day worsens the capitulation to Putin. Voting with Russia at the UN, alongside North Korea and Nicaragua. Dismantling federal structures investigating Russian interference. Appointing an intelligence director whom Russian propagandist Soloviev publicly called “a Putin agent.” Shutting down Voice of America after 80 years. And poor Witkoff, the oligarchs’ friend, clueless about Ukraine, dutifully parroting Kremlin talking points after every trip to Moscow. As a Department of Homeland Security official put it: “Putin is inside the house now.” Today, when cats eat mice, they claim the mice attacked them — and Trump believes them. Is he under kompromat, or simply an utter fool? What is certain is that he is the best Russian President in American history.
His so-called ceasefire plan for Ukraine goes beyond Putin’s wildest dreams: Annexation of Crimea, occupation of four oblasts, no security guarantees for Kyiv, and looting of Ukraine’s mineral wealth. Of course, it is unacceptable to Ukrainians and catastrophic for Europeans.
I once described the early Trump presidency as a tragedy. After one hundred days, it turns out to be a farce — but a sinister one. Every decision by the braggart from Mar-A-Lago has had disastrous effects. In economics: plunging markets and dollar, rising rates, and the onset of recession. In foreign policy: betrayal of allies, subservience to Moscow, and a trade war with China that backfired spectacularly. In domestic policy: a general battle with states, civil servants, universities, and more. Trump is moving faster and faster — but in reverse.
Mercantilist, nationalist, xenophobic, and regressive policies are producing the results they always have throughout history, best summed up by French writer Charles Péguy: "The triumph of demagogues is short-lived, but the ruins are eternal."
But the worst is never guaranteed. As the Italians say, “the donkey’s trot doesn’t last long.” In just three months, Trumpism is starting to crack. The unnatural alliance between “anywhere” billionaires and the “somewhere” base lasted only as long as an election campaign. It is now falling apart before our eyes. The tech billionaires have lost their billions, and those who believed their promises have lost their jobs. Musk has already rushed back to Tesla, trying to salvage what's left. Steve Bannon is leading a populist revolt against the tech oligarchs.
But it would be naive to think the structure will collapse on its own. Resistance is necessary.
This is what Europeans are trying to do — cautiously, to avoid worsening the crisis. They responded to tariff hikes with a proposal to eliminate all tariffs on both sides. They are countering hostility by trying to keep communication channels open. They are, slowly and imperfectly, preparing to continue supporting Ukraine the day the little telegraphist from Moscow finally abandons Zelensky. They are beginning — too timidly — to rearm.
But ultimately, it is up to Americans to shape their country’s future — and by extension, the future of much of the world. For over eighty years, we have built the free world together. For more than two centuries, we have shared the same values: democracy, human rights, and free enterprise — values that make every American and every European feel part of the same civilization. So much so that neither side could have imagined that one day, in so short a time, a President would set out to dig a trench between them.
Every defender of liberty must step up their fight. They must persuade those Republican congressmen who have believed all their lives in free trade, alliances, the world order, and the fight against totalitarian regimes, that Trump is dishonoring them. They must encourage Democratic representatives to speak louder than they do today. And they must convince their fellow Americans to restore the values that made their nation the freest, richest, and most powerful in the world.
I am confident that moment will come sooner than we think.
