Latest news with #transatlanticrelations
Daily Mail
16 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
World's most secretive society meets in Sweden as tensions between Europe and Trump reach boiling point
The annual Bilderberg Meeting is underway in Sweden, providing a private forum for discussion at a time when President Donald Trump has upended security and economic ties between the US and Europe. The high-level networking event was formed in 1954 to foster dialogue between the US and Europe. Media outlets are not invited to attend, and delegates rarely speak about what is discussed, triggering numerous conspiracy theories about their aims. NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Christopher Donahue, Commander of the US Army Europe and Africa are among those on this year's delegate list, published by the organizers just ahead of the meeting. Others include Palantir boss Alex Karp; Gundbert Scherf, co-founder of German drone and AI company Helsing; and Spotify chief executive Daniel Ek. Heads of the CIA and MI6 have been among its members, while Henry Kissinger was a regular alongside the likes of Bill Clinton, Bill Gates and then-Prince Charles. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will give a speech 'on Sweden's and the EU's competitiveness and Sweden's support for Ukraine,' his spokesperson said. Transatlantic relations top the agenda, with Ukraine, critical raw materials and AI also on the list, according to the organizers who also publish the names of the participants. Other than that, information is scarce. The organizers say the secrecy is to allow participants to be able to speak freely in an environment of trust. 'There is no desired outcome, there is no closing statement, there are no resolutions proposed or votes taken, and the meeting does not support any political party or viewpoint,' the official website says. The Daily Mail infiltrated the 2018 meeting, the first time an undercover journalist ever managed to do so, gaining insights about the meeting's inner workings. How much impact groups like Bilderberg actually have is hard to judge, according to Christina Garsten, professor at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study, who studies transnational think tanks. They aim to shape the broad political and corporate agenda. But if they are seen as having too much influence, they can be accused of being anti-democratic. 'It's there that conspiracy theories can flower,' she said. She dismissed the belief held by some that groups like Bilderberg make up a shadowy world government. 'I think it's very much exaggerated,' she said. Sunday is the last of four days of talks that were likely dominated by geopolitical concerns, including discussing Israel and Iran's missile strikes on each other in real time. Bilderberg insider Nadia Schadlow, a former deputy US national security adviser, hinted 'the growing collusion among revisionist powers' would be a big focus of the talks. 'An authoritarian axis is rapidly coalescing around China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, disrupting the belief that an international community has taken shape in the aftermath of the cold war,' she said, ahead of the meeting. Other topics of discussion made public include 'geopolitics of energy and critical minerals' and 'defense innovation and resilience'. The numerous big tech bosses at the meeting will likely steer solutions towards their technology, such as the increased use of AI-controlled attack drones. Former Google boss Eric Schmidt, a longtime Bilderberg board member, recently warned that a super-intelligent AI would be created within five years - and he was worried a hostile nation would be first. 'China is at parity or pulling ahead of the US in a variety of technologies, notably at the AI frontier,' he said. 'The geopolitical stakes, especially in the race with China, are enormous.' Schmidt feared the creation of such AI would give that nation 'the keys to control the entire world' with unprecedented military dominance. This year's Bilderberg is the first since a major shift in its leadership with former NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg chairing its 'steering committee'. Stoltenberg's tenure at NATO was dominated by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and he proudly claimed to have overseen 'the largest reinforcement of our collective defense in a generation.' Many of his Bilderberg colleagues have benefited from this increased defense spending. Among them is Trump insider Peter Thiel, boss of AI giant Palantir, whose technology has been used by Ukraine in the fight against Putin. Stoltenberg will co-chair the steering committee alongside Canadian-American economist, philanthropist, Marie-Josée Kravis who sits on the board of Publicis, one of the world's largest PR and communications companies. Kravis is married to the billionaire Henry Kravis, founder of legendary investment firm KKR. This cabal of the global, largely liberal, elite — with strong ties to the EU — meets every year amid a cloak of secrecy, but Stoltenberg's appointment as co-chair also reflects the group's strategic realignment amid rising geopolitical tensions. Having overseen NATO's largest defense reinforcement in a generation, Stoltenberg is no stranger to Bilderberg, participating in meetings since 2002. His tenure as NATO chief was dominated by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and increasing NATO expansion, making him a natural choice to steer Bilderberg's discussions on transatlantic defense. Meanwhile, Thiel's growing influence at Bilderberg also signals a convergence of tech innovation and military strategy. His robotics company, Anduril, and Palantir have both capitalized on the global arms race, reflecting the group's longstanding ties to defense and intelligence. Thiel's ideological alignment with Trump and his tech-driven contributions to defense provide a modern reflection of Bilderberg's founding ethos - melding elite influence with geopolitical strategy. Stoltenberg's leadership, coupled with Thiel's outsized influence, points to a Bilderberg Group increasingly intertwined with military innovation and political strategy.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's tariff threat risks a trade war with Europe years in the making
The European Union has pushed back against President Donald Trump's latest suggestion that he will impose a 50% import tariff on all E.U. goods, warning that transatlantic trade must be built on 'respect, not threats.' The rebuke came after Trump said in a Friday post on his Truth Social platform that trade negotiations with Brussels were 'going nowhere' and suggested he would slap a 50% blanket duty on all European goods entering the U.S. starting June 1. It was just the latest bellicose remark from Trump and came amid a broader souring in relations between the two global powers that has seen months of distrust and economic sparring. The E.U., home to nearly 450 million people, is the world's largest trading bloc and one of Washington's top commercial partners. It exported more than $600 billion in goods to the U.S. last year while importing goods worth around $370 billion. Trump's latest broadside follows his April 2 'Liberation Day' announcement of a 39% tariff on European goods, an idea he later walked back before he changed tack again Friday with an even tougher stance. Stephen Moore, a former economic advisor to Trump, told the BBC that his former boss was expressing his frustration's with the EU. 'I think he was hoping that by now we would have the E.U. coming with some kind of deal on the table and so far that hasn't come,' he said, calling the 50% import tariffs a 'shot at the bow.' E.U. Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said late Friday that 'E.U.-U.S. trade is unmatched & must be guided by mutual respect, not threats,' and that the bloc remains committed to securing 'a deal that works for both,' following a call with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. While the E.U.'s response signals a willingness to negotiate, discord has deepened between the bloc and its longtime transatlantic ally over a return to the combative stance Trump took during his first administration, when he flew in the face of decades of cooperation and cast the E.U. as an economic rival. In 2018, Trump said 'nobody treats us much worse than the European Union' and argued the bloc was designed to exploit the U.S. He repeated that claim this year, describing the E.U. as being 'formed in order to screw the United States.' While the ideological architects of Trump's first administration such as Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro have also gone on record criticizing the union, many in Trump's current inner circle have shared those sentiments. Vice President J.D. Vance lashed out in February at European leaders at a security conference in Munich over issues ranging from free speech to migration and defense, dealing a sucker-punch the European view of America as a steadfast cultural ally. 'The threat that I worry the most about vis-à-vis Europe,' he said, 'is the threat from within — the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America.' That came after Elon Musk — the world's richest man who served as Trump's close adviser earlier in his second term — threw his support behind Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany party, which has called for Germany to leave the E.U.. Underlying much of the second Trump administration's animosity toward Europe has been security funding, most prominently over the war in Ukraine. While the administration's view of the war in Ukraine has since softened, Vance has repeatedly opposed sending military aid to Kyiv, saying in February that 'I don't really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another.' And in a Signal conversation between senior administration officials leaked in March, the vice president initially resisted U.S. strikes in Yemen, arguing he didn't want to 'bail Europe out,' while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned that Europe was treating America like a 'sucker' by relying on it for defense. While Šefčovič's call for a 'deal that works for both' reflects the E.U.'s characteristically restrained response to the Trump administration's jabs, Europe has been bracing itself for months for the possibility of a more distant economic relationship with the U.S. too. Earlier this month, Šefčovič said the bloc preferred to negotiate, 'but not at any cost,' before announcing more than $100 billion worth of possible retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods the following day. Europe also appears to be preparing for a future without America's guarantee of European security against Russia. Germany this week deployed a permanent military brigade beyond its borders for the first time since the end of World War II. A brewing trade war with the bloc throws into relief the position of Britain, which voted to leave the E.U. in 2016, but recently signed a trade deal with Europe and an economic deal with the U.S. London appears to have sidestepped the steepest tariffs after Trump agreed last month to hold the levy on British goods at 10%, but the U.K. must now walk a delicate line: maintaining its 'special relationship' with Washington while seeking closer alignment with its largest trading partner in Brussels. But with tensions rising across the Atlantic, even allies risk being caught in the crossfire. The E.U. — a geopolitical heavyweight in its own right — is unlikely to take hefty U.S. tariffs lying down without making moves of its own. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Von der Leyen, Vance and Meloni to meet in Rome to discuss EU-US ties
A high-level meeting between the European Union and the United States is set to take place in Rome on Sunday, following the official inauguration of Pope Leo XIV. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, US Vice President JD Vance and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will meet at 3:30 pm (1330 GMT) at Palazzo Chigi, Meloni's official residence in central Rome, her office announced on short notice. The primary focus of the talks will be the strained trans-Atlantic relations. Tensions were sparked by US President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff measures, with the EU among the targets. The EU has signalled it is ready to respond with reciprocal tariffs should negotiations fail. Alongside trade, broader geopolitical issues - chiefly Russia's war on Ukraine - are also expected to feature prominently in the trilateral discussions. Von der Leyen, Vance, and Meloni were among the many international dignitaries who attended Pope Leo XIV's inauguration Mass earlier in the day at the Vatican. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was also in attendance and had met privately with Meloni on Saturday.
Bloomberg
18-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Meloni to See Vance, Von Der Leyen as Leaders Gather in Rome
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni will hold talks with US Vice President JD Vance and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday afternoon, her office said, as a trade war looms and transatlantic relations adjust to an upset of long-held foreign policy norms. The tripartite meeting come as world leaders gathered in Rome for Sunday's enthronement of Pope Leo XIV. Vance and von der Leyen last met in February in Paris.
