Trump’s Secretary of State Rubio ghosts Europe

BRUSSELS — His invitation must have gotten lost in the mail.

Top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas made no secret on Monday that Brussels has sent an open invitation to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to attend a regular meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers to get the new transatlantic relationship off on the right foot.

She told journalists she had asked him to come “to explain the views of the United States” — which now include taking over Greenland, home to 55,000 EU citizens.

Rubio didn’t show up at the meeting on Monday. Or hop on via Zoom. In fact, there was no sign he replied.

When asked about the invitation from Kallas, a spokesperson for Rubio said in an email: “We have no travel to announce at this time.”

The no-show is not necessarily a fatal diplomatic blunder. EU foreign ministers tend to meet at least once a month so Rubio can come next time. Kallas also stressed she was “willing to visit Washington as soon as possible.”

Rubio’s silence is triggering anxiety among officials in Brussels who suspect that President Donald Trump’s administration is deliberately freezing out the EU as represented by Brussels and pan-European diplomatic frameworks in favor of national figures — all part of a divide-and-conquer strategy to weaken the bloc.

Spurning the EU would mark an abrupt turn away from cozy relations between Brussels and Washington under Joe Biden, whose administration coordinated closely with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s office on everything from sanctions against Russia to vaccine procurement.

The risk for Europe is that Trump will manage to weaken the bloc’s unity, making Brussels more vulnerable to pressure from Washington on issues like trade. (While Brussels is responsible for negotiating trade deals on behalf of all EU countries, selective pressure on particular countries could chip away at the bloc’s collective resolve.)

Divide and conquer

In some ways, the divide-and-conquer approach seems already to be working.

Trump has threatened NATO ally Denmark with sanctions unless Copenhagen gives in to his demands on Greenland, which haven’t been precisely spelled out. Rather than seek a strong, coordinated response from leaders via the EU, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has asked her colleagues to stand down out of concern that their comments could further inflame the situation, said two EU diplomats. They, like others quoted in the piece, were granted anonymity to speak candidly about the transatlantic rapport.

“From what we can see, they [Trump’s administration] want to deal with us bilaterally,” said a third EU diplomat. “Given the interest to go on the bilateral track, we will need to show unity.”

Trump’s team hasn’t spelled out any particular approach to the EU, but its actions are telling.

The president didn’t invite any of the bloc’s top representatives — European Commission President von der Leyen, top diplomat Kallas or European Council President António Costa — to his inauguration on Jan. 20, instead opting to invite Italy’s hard-right prime minister, Giorgia Meloni.

His conversation with an EU leader since he took office, with Danish Prime Minister Frederiksen, was reportedly “very bad,” with Trump threatening sanctions unless Copenhagen gives in to his demands on Greenland.

Within that context, it is more alarming to Brussels that the EU hardly seems a priority for Rubio.

In addition to phone calls with the foreign ministers of a dozen non-EU countries, he has spoken to five foreign ministers from the bloc since he was confirmed in his role.

Absent from his list of engagements: EU officials.

That’s already created a divide between EU capitals and Brussels.

Among those lucky enough to secure phone time with Rubio, there is plenty of optimism about the state of transatlantic relations under Trump. 

“There has been no negative message towards Italy from the Americans, so I believe that things are absolutely going in the right direction,” Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told journalists in Brussels, a day after speaking with Rubio. “I believe that there is room for a good dialogue with the United States.”

For top EU officials, there is little choice but to put on a brave face and tout the EU’s openness to dialogue with the new administration. 

Other ministers expressed hope everything would be all right in the end between the EU and Washington.

“I think it’s absolutely vital that the EU and the United States establish a deep meaningful working relationship,” Ireland’s Trade and Foreign Minister Simon Harris told journalists.

If Rubio feels the same way, there’s another meeting of the EU foreign ministers on Feb. 24.

Additional reporting by Elena Giordano and Jakob Weizman.