Bangladesh, Jan. 3 -- There is no shortage of geopolitical challenges confronting US President Donald Trump as he navigates the second year of his second term in 2026. From advancing a controversial peace proposal for Gaza to seeking an end to Russias war in Ukraine and managing an increasingly volatile policy toward Venezuela, Trumps foreign policy agenda is crowded and politically demanding. Yet amid these pressing global crises, one relationship that should be predictable, stable, and foundational has instead become unusually strained: the transatlantic partnership between the United States and Europe.

This deterioration is striking precisely because it was not inevitable. At the start of Trumps second term, relations between Washingt...