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European summit will focus on how to accommodate Trump during his second term as president

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European summit will focus on how to accommodate Trump during his second term as president
News

News

European summit will focus on how to accommodate Trump during his second term as president

2024-11-07 00:52 Last Updated At:01:01

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Dozens of European leaders will be assessing a new global outlook on Thursday, during a one-day summit bound to center on the concerns of many and the jubilation of a few in the wake of the election of Donald Trump as the next U.S. president that could have far-reaching consequences for the continent.

During his election campaign, Trump has threatened anything from a trade war with Europe to a withdrawal of NATO commitments and a fundamental shift of support for Ukraine in its war with Russia — all issues that could have groundbreaking consequences for nations across Europe, especially the 27-nation European Union.

It was already beyond doubt that the transatlantic relationship would change after Tuesday's vote. But under a Democratic president, that was expected to be gradual. Based on Trump's own campaign promises, seismic changes may lie ahead.

And for the populist and hard-right forces within the EU, who have already opened fissures with the political establishment, the election of Trump reinforces their position.

For summit host and ardent Trump fan, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Wednesday was a day of celebration — even if EU relations were extremely turbulent during Trump's first term, from 2017-2021.

“I see a brilliant victory, perhaps the biggest comeback and giant struggle in Western political history," Orbán said. “For the world, it means the hope for peace.”

Serbia’s populist leader Aleksandar Vučić, who will be another high-profile guest at Thursday's summit in Budapest, was equally enthusiastic.

“Serbia is committed to cooperation with the USA on stability, prosperity and peace,” Vučić said.

The EU had prepared for months for a potential return of Trump, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated him once his victory became clear.

She said that the EU and the United States “are more than just allies. We are bound by a true partnership between our people, uniting 800 million citizens.”

“Let us work together on a transatlantic partnership that continues to deliver for our citizens. Millions of jobs and billions in trade and investment on each side of the Atlantic depend on the dynamism and stability of our economic relationship,” she said.

Von der Leyen can only hope for better. Trump's administration slapped tariffs on EU steel and aluminum in 2018, based on the claim that foreign products, even if produced by American allies, were a threat to U.S. national security. Europeans and other allies retaliated with duties on U.S.-made motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans, among other items.

The impact of the U.S. election result could be felt in Europe for years to come, on issues including the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as migration or climate change.

The string of geopolitical conflicts “is putting peace, stability and prosperity at risk in our region,” said the summit invitation letter to the leaders of the European Political Community, which unites almost 50 nations across Europe, barring Russia and Belarus.

Among the leaders likely to attend on Thursday is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is expected to make another plea for more aid as his country fends off Moscow's invasion. The timing is laden with significance as Trump has vowed to end the war “within 24 hours” of being elected — something leaders in Kyiv interpret as an impending evaporation of U.S. support should Trump win.

Not so long ago, such a meeting — which is also expected to include leaders from non-EU countries like Turkey, Serbia and the United Kingdom — would end with praise for European unity and a common political direction. Yet with Orbán as the host of the summit, friction is as good as assured.

Orbán predicted a Trump victory and suggested that civil and criminal cases against him were the result of a politically motivated U.S. Justice Department — a common Trump refrain.

“Orbán’s foreign policy dream came true,” said Peter Kreko, the head of the Political Capital think tank in Budapest.

Having played the obstructionist for years within the 27-nation EU, Orbán now holds the bloc's rotating presidency, giving him a more prominent platform and making him the host of Thursday's EPC summit, as well as another gathering of leaders in the EU Council on Friday.

“He always uses these international meetings to promote his own agenda. And also he pretty much has taken hostage the whole Council presidency,” Kreko said.

The presidency under Orbán caused turmoil from day one, when he declared “Make Europe Great Again” the motto of his six months in charge. It was a strikingly clear reference to his affection for Trump, which he followed up with unannounced visits to Moscow and Beijing, angering EU leaders who said he wasn't acting on their behalf.

While Orbán has cast the result of U.S. elections as pivotal for Europe's future — he's even delayed passing Hungary's 2025 national budget until after a new president is elected — not all EU leaders are comfortable with the bloc's fate being so tightly bound up with the movements of American politics.

Donald Tusk, the center-right prime minister of Poland, said that Europe must forge a more independent path that is less sensitive to changes across the Atlantic.

"Some claim that the future of Europe depends on the American elections, while it depends first and foremost on us, on the condition that Europe finally grows up and believes in its own strength," Tusk said in the days before the summit. “Whatever the outcome, the era of geopolitical outsourcing is over.”

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, rear left, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, rear right, attend a meeting with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov at Yntymak Ordo State Residence in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Vladimir Voronin)

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, rear left, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, rear right, attend a meeting with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov at Yntymak Ordo State Residence in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Vladimir Voronin)

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks during a meeting with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov at Yntymak Ordo State Residence in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Vladimir Voronin)

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks during a meeting with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov at Yntymak Ordo State Residence in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Vladimir Voronin)

NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge won't be bothered if free agent Juan Soto gets a bigger deal from the New York Yankees than the captain's $360 million, nine-year contract.

“It ain’t my money. I really don’t care as long as we get the best players, we get the most that we can, I’m happy with whatever,” Judge said Friday, a day after he was a unanimous winner of his second AL MVP award. “That's never been something on my mind about who gets paid the most.”

Judge led the major leagues with 58 homers, 144 RBIs and 133 walks while hitting .322 as New York reached the World Series for the first time since 2009, only to lose to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Soto batted .288 with 41 homers, 109 RBIs and 129 walks in his first season with the Yankees and finished third in MVP voting, also trailing Kansas City shortstop Bobby Witt. Jr.

A free agent at 26, Soto has met with the Yankees, Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox, and he plans to meet with the Philadelphia Phillies, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the meetings have not been publicly announced.

Negotiations are not likely to intensify until after Thanksgiving.

Judge hasn’t spoken with Soto since the World Series. Judge went through the free-agent experience after hitting an AL record 62 homers in 2022.

“The best thing is to really give those guys space," Judge said. "I talked to him all season and he knows how we feel about him and I think the most important thing is now let him do his thing with his family, pray about it, talk with people and come to the right decision for him and his family.”

Soto met with Yankees officials on Monday at a hotel in southern California, a group that included owner Hal Steinbrenner, team president Randy Levine, general manager Brian Cashman, manager Aaron Boone and senior adviser for baseball operations Omar Minaya.

“We had a good meeting. It was a very honest back-and-forth dialogue, a couple hours long,” Steinbrenner said Wednesday.

Asked how confident he was about keeping Soto, Steinbrenner said: “No idea. We’ll be in the mix. I’ll leave it at that.”

Soto and Judge filled the Nos. 2 and 3 slots in the Yankees batting order in a franchise-record 153 games, topping the 145 of Joe Dugan and Babe Ruth in 1923, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

“I get to see a lot of pitches," Judge said. "He's going to be a tough at-bat in front of me. He’s going to wear down the pitcher right there in the first inning, within the first 15 pitches or so. Yeah, I think that was a big impact just having having a guy like that in front of you.

"If I could have eight Juan Sotos in the lineup with me, I would love that.”

After the World Series, Judge spent about a week in Tampa, Florida, where the Yankees hold spring training, and met with Steinbrenner.

“We kind of just discussed a lot of things from Juan to other guys that are kind of out there that I think could definitely help this team,:" Judge said. "So I kind of just gave my input on a couple things.”

Judge said when he agreed to his big deal in late 2022, Steinbrenner wanted to have a deeper relationship. They've been meeting every week or two, and pitcher Gerrit Cole has developed a similar exchange with the owner.

“I think just having that relationship to where I can kind of communicate with him about what I’m seeing, what I’m feeling, what I see with the guys, what I see against other guys that we play against,” Judge said. “I think it’s a cool part to where I think just the more communication you have from top to bottom, it just — it makes everybody better.”

Judge's contract is baseball's fourth largest behind the deals of the Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani ($700 million), the Los Angeles Angels' Mike Trout ($426.5 million) and the Dodgers' Mookie Betts ($365 million). Judge cited the example of teammate Giancarlo Stanton, whose $325 million deal was the highest when he joined the Yankees ahead of the 2018 season but now ranks tied for ninth.

“Even though he signed one of those — the first big mega-contracts back in Miami, once he came here he didn’t care about the highest-paid guy. He just wanted good players around him,” Judge said.

In joining Mickey Mantle in 1956 as the Yankees' only unanimous MVPs, Judge credited his teammates.

“You look at every single one of my teammates in that room and know that each and every single one of them impacted me in a way that put me in that position,” Judge said. “So it’s always going to be a team award in my book.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

FILE - New York Yankees' Aaron Judge smiles before a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, April 30, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)

FILE - New York Yankees' Aaron Judge smiles before a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, April 30, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)

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