In the EU’s fight – if there is to be one at all – against Donald Trump’s obsession with Greenland, the bloc isn’t likely to prevail as it did over another evil American last year. One of the enduring frustrations of living with teenagers is the way their devices and chargers take up your kitchen. It’s one thing to have a messy room.
I was expecting that and my father still laughs every time he hears me tell one of his grandchildren to please close their cupboard door. But one of our major kitchen surfaces has just became overrun by chargers and cables. This is partly because my son and I are happy to go with the more democratic cellphone system, while my wife and daughter insist on sticking with the cult.
I despaired that there would ever be a single charging cable, or set of them, that would satisfy everyone. The EU was ableto tell Appleto just do what everyone else does and use a USB-C charging system. If you ever thought that Apple was driven by your interests, the fact that they fought against this should disabuse you of that notion.
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The EU prevailed over an evil American in that fight. I’m not sure they are going to prevail now. Donald Trump’s decision to slap tariffs of 25% on eight countries that oppose his ambitions to take over Greenland has already provoked quite a strong response from EU nations.
But getting them to coordinate is going to be almost impossible. The problem is that his obsession that the US must take over, or annex, or buy Greenland makes absolutely no sense. It isn’t clear to me that this is in the best interests of the US.
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