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European leaders divided over how far to accommodate Trump’s ‘wrecking ball’ politics and foreign policy

US Democrats will use a security summit this weekend to urge European leaders to stand up to Donald Trump, with the continent divided over how to keep the unpredictable US president on side.

Democrats at the annual Munich Security Conference will include some of Trump’s most outspoken critics, such as the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, the New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Arizona senator Ruben Gallego and the Michigan governor, Gretchen Whitmer.

Newsom has already urged Europeans to realise that “grovelling to Trump’s needs” makes them “look pathetic on the world stage”, telling reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month he “should have brought a bunch of knee pads”.

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[-] MashedTech@lemmy.world 19 points 1 day ago

Bruh, they can't do it themselves and they're asking a whole other continent???

[-] tb_@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago

Yes, but also the party is not a monolith.

[-] MashedTech@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago

They should form a third party, as every other country has done when some people want to do things differently.

[-] lmmarsano@group.lt 3 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

So, you're already telling everyone you don't understand the spoiler effect, basically advocating the opposition to assure their own loss.

Vote splitting is the most common cause of spoiler effects in FPP. In these systems, the presence of many ideologically-similar candidates causes their vote total to be split between them, placing these candidates at a disadvantage. This is most visible in elections where a minor candidate draws votes away from a major candidate with similar politics, thereby causing a strong opponent of both to win.

A spoiler campaign in the United States is often one that cannot realistically win but can still determine the outcome by pulling support from a more competitive candidate.

Any other bright ideas?

[-] tb_@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago

Ideally, yes. In practice, splitting their voter base in two would guarantee losing the presidency. The first past the post system of the US and UK needs to be reformed, not that their current major parties have any incentive to do so.

All of which is to say, it's a difficult situation.

this post was submitted on 13 Feb 2026
250 points (99.2% liked)

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