Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Springer, wrote in "Die Welt" that Europeans should listen to Donald Trump and consider a "Europe First" approach to coordinate interests and security with the USA, arguing that declining military readiness, economic stagnation, weakening internal security, chaotic immigration policy, imported digitalization and social fragmentation require urgent reform.Michael Hanfeld responded critically, warning that embracing parts of Trump’s diagnosis risks ignoring an unofficial U.S. national security Strategy that treats the EU as an economic rival, expects European conformity to U.S. political preferences and signals tolerance for Euroskeptic and far-right movements such as AfD.Commentators including Bernard Guetta and Ishaan Tharoor say the clash is accelerating European strategic autonomy from Washington and Beijing even as officials argue there remains room for pragmatic engagement, leaving European leaders to balance short-term cooperation against longer-term risks to democratic order.