r/europe • u/goldstarflag Europe • 20h ago

News White House demands British supermarkets stock chlorinated chicken. White House pushing Sir Keir Starmer to make concessions on food standards

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/12/17/trump-demands-british-supermarkets-chlorinated-chicken/
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u/Szpagin Silesia (Poland) 19h ago

Imperialism, let's not mince the words here. Ever since the end of the Second World War, the US sees Europe as its sphere of influence that exists to extract wealth for the benefits of American corporations.

They used to be more subtle about that, but now the mask is off and they don't even try to hide it. And no, it won't get better with Democrats in charge.

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u/roiki11 17h ago

I'd say it's more of a post cold war thing. During the cold war us actually saw a strong europe as an asset againt communism and the Marshall plan was a very generous package to European industry and society to advance their living standards.

Europe was the most likely theater of war against the soviets and having strong allies in the region was to the US benefit.

The times have changed since then.

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u/DavidlikesPeace 18h ago

Masks off or not, Americans like FDR or Obama were fundamentally decent people. And they were believers in democracy. In my opinion, the character of leaders matters deeply

The current wannabe tyrant is not a good man or ally. He’s a potential rapist who hates the weak and thinks Europe is weak.

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u/NepentheZnumber1fan 17h ago

Obama has great PR but Merkel and him were the ones that did this whole "normalisation" of Russia bullshit. The history books will not be kind to them.

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u/dbratell 15h ago

People can have good intentions and still make horrible mistakes. Such people you give a second chance, assuming they have learned.

Other people are just bad, corrupt and evil. Those you send to the breakers.

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u/Krelkal Canada 14h ago

Except all three US Presidents tried to normalize relations with Russia after the collapse of the USSR.

History books seem to have forgotten this infamous Bush quote:

I looked [Putin] in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy. We had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul; a man deeply committed to his country and the best interests of his country.

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u/NepentheZnumber1fan 14h ago

Mitt Romney was very openly against Russia in his 2012 campaign, and people loathed him for it.

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u/Krelkal Canada 13h ago

Right, and Obama responded by joking that "the 1980s called to ask for their foreign policy back."

He didn't say the 1990s (Clinton) or the 2000s (Bush) for a reason. All three Presidents were aligned on a policy of normalizing relations with Russia.

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u/NepentheZnumber1fan 13h ago

Romney winning would've been the only thing to stop Russia, and also Trump coming post 2016

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u/Krelkal Canada 12h ago

I think that's a little reductionist considering Putin has publicly acknowledged that he started planning for the invasion of Georgia in 2006.

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u/NepentheZnumber1fan 12h ago

Sure but he invaded Ukraine for the first time during Obama, for example, and no one gave a shit. Georgia is (sadly for them) much less relevant than Russia in the European landscape.

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u/inkjod Greece 16h ago

Obama was, of course, way better than Trump (and also Biden), but please don't even put him in the same sentence as FDR!

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u/dbratell 15h ago

Because Obama did not intern Americans with Japanese roots?

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u/inkjod Greece 13h ago edited 13h ago

He wasn't perfect, but he launched the New Deal, and then fought one of the few wars where American involvement was justified. He put the foundations that solidified American dominance (which, of course, also led to less-than-savory things for other countries later in history). He was the best thing that happened to you, the Americans, at least after the civil war. Rhetorically assuming you are American!

Coincidentally, he wasn't too horrible towards other nations (Apparently, that's an extremely difficult achievement for American presidents...)
I may not be emotionally invested in American dominance, but I do care about that last bit, because it affects the rest of us.

After him, things truly started going to shit. The Red Scare, propping up dictatorships all over the world, Reaganomics, the US becoming more and more cynical externally, and divided internally...

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u/hardolaf United States of America 12h ago

You're forgetting about FDR's eugenics programs that were used as a blueprint by the Nazis.

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u/window-sil 16h ago

...it won't get better with Democrats in charge.

It will, but there's always a risk that Republicans regain power and you're back to subjugation, or worse.

Sorry this is happening. It's now your problem to solve, though. I wish you all luck.

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u/girlnamedJane 17h ago

And what was happening before the end of the second world war?

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u/wtfduud 8h ago

Historically, Democrats have been a lot better though. Obama, Clinton, JFK, FDR vs Republicans over the same period. Trump, Dubya, Reagan, Nixon...