The West’s two biggest democracies head to the polls in 2024: the EU will vote to refresh its 705-seat parliament in the spring, before America picks a new president and Congress in November. One of these ballots will be enormously consequential for Europe, potentially reshaping its entire political landscape. The other will elect Members of the European Parliament.
A spectre is haunting Europe—the spectre of Trumpism rebooted. The nativist leanings of a president with little regard for diplomatic mores caused plenty of heartache the first time around. That was before war broke out on the continent. Now the prospect of a revival—either with Donald Trump himself, or a variant like Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida who is his most serious challenger for the Republican nomination—is setting nerves jangling. Everyone knows trouble may be coming. Nobody can agree on what to do about it. Like a deer caught in the headlights, Europe is stuck, waiting to see what happens.
