Is Europe the Enemy? Transatlantic Relations in Crisis: An Evening with David Sanger and Anna Sauerbrey

US President Trump's announced plans to annex Greenland have shaken security, trade, and foreign policy across Europe—and fundamentally called into question expectations of what is politically feasible. The United States, a historic partner and guarantor of security on the continent, appears less and less like an ally and increasingly like an open adversary.

In 2025, the Trump administration published a new national security strategy that revealed what had already been apparent behind the scenes: the US government under Trump views European institutions and even individual European governments as obstacles to be circumvented or overcome. Washington seems to perceive European rules and laws as a burden and to interpret the acceptance of immigration and multiculturalism as a civilizational aberration.

• Can the current course taken by the US still be reversed?
• And if not, what does this new era in US-European relations mean for the future of politics and society on both sides of the Atlantic?

David Sanger from the New York Times and Anna Sauerbrey from Die Zeit analyze the current situation and its implications for Germany and its European neighbors. The discussion will be moderated by Joshua Yaffa, Writer in Residence at Bard College Berlin.

The event is being held in cooperation with Bard College Berlin and the Heinrich Böll Foundation as part of the event series “Writing Democracy: Stories, Ideas, and Arguments On and Off the Page.”