The Real Reason Trump Hates Europe (and Canada)

Photo licensed by the author from Envato Elements and marked up (poorly) in Canva.

Over the past two months of the ongoing Trump nightmare (God, has it only been two months?) I’ve been confronted by the same question over and over — why is Trump so hostile to Europe?

Donald Trump’s grudge against Europe isn’t about NATO spending or trade deals — those are just the excuses he throws at the MAGA faithful to keep the “rage engine” running.

The real reason Trump hates Europe?

It represents everything he despises: cooperation, accountability, and a collective resistance to authoritarianism. Europe stands for the rule of law, the idea that governments should serve their people, and, worst of all, that a nation’s leader should actually have to answer for their actions.

And for a man whose ideal governance model is a fusion of mafia boss and medieval king, that’s a direct threat to his worldview.

Trump doesn’t just dislike Europe — he fundamentally cannot comprehend it.

To him, governance isn’t about institutions, checks and balances, or the greater good; it’s about dominance, patronage, and personal loyalty.

In his world, power isn’t earned through competence or consensus — it’s seized and wielded like a blunt instrument. That’s why he bristles at the European Union, an entity that operates on…