However, the somewhat softer view on the U.S. president comes a few days after Trump decided to launch a military strike on a Syrian government airbase, following an alleged chemical attack conducted by the ruling regime of Bashar Assad.
According to Aarti Shankar, policy analyst at Open Europe, this increases the possibilities of a strong U.S.- European cooperation on defense and security, “despite Europe’s wariness of the Trump administration.”
“However, I would not suggest there is a dramatic shift in Europe’s perspective of the U.S. president,” she told CNBC via email, adding that “the strikes supported Europe’s image of President Trump as an unpredictable leader.”
Karel Lannoo, chief executive officer at the Brussels-based CEPS think tank, agreed that Europe is viewing Trump in a different way, but it has to find a way to work with the Trump’s unpredictability.
“He will continue to be unpredictable, but possibly a bit less than foreseen,” he said. “In addition, (Trump) has shown to be good were (Barack) Obama and Europe were weak, to decide, and to show what are limits.”
