European Opinions

Throughout my life I have never been very vocal about my political opinions. Even my father wouldn't tell me who he voted for until the day after the election. Part of the reason I remained on the quieter side was due to the fact I didn't consider myself fully educated, and I still don't. However, with the most recent election sweeping every headline in the world, it became easier for me to become more educated.

While my political knowledge has increased, I still consider it quite inadequate. I also am hesitant to be fully vocal. However, I am in a different position from many people right now. I have been living in Europe for election day, inauguration day, and everything in between and following. Though, with the overflowing news coverage, I feel like I am almost in the States. Being here has changed my views on American politics. It was hard to realize how much the United States affected the rest of the world and how much people here relied on American decisions. The US election and campaigns covered more front pages and headlines than the upcoming election in France and the headlines also followed me to Spain, the UK, Italy, Portugal, Greece, and more. Right now, all eyes are on the US. 

I just returned home for an 11 day Europe trip with some other Americans living with me in France. We went to 4 countries and 6 cities (yes, extremely tiring and probably way too much for 11 days) and American news followed us everywhere. Whether there was a book about Donald Trump in the airport, or a headline about a new political decision typed out in Spanish on a newspaper, a propaganda poster, or even graffiti; we were surrounded. One of my friends here, Susannah, recently turned me onto podcasts. With our long flights, train rides, and bus rides, podcasts became a great way to pass time. She previously interned for a news podcast called The World, which as you can guess, covers global news. 

In between the different countries, languages, and news outlets, I began listening to a recent episode of The World that covered the European opinions of Donald Trump and specifically the news coverage surrounding the current state of the western world. The podcast included professionals commenting both on the direct impact of Donald Trump and also some more "second-hand" affects that are occurring around the world. 

The beginning of the episode had a British professional commenting directly with the host about Trump and Europe. When asked if the United States was already in a bad place and ruined, he responded that he still believed in the Power of the US. However, it is also about a month into the presidency and there have been some interesting occurrences. On this side of the pond, European politicians are having a very hard time deciding what to do. Many of these european nations want to continue their relationship with the United States, especially Great Britain who currently needs allies after Brexit. BUUUUTTT, when these European leaders attempt to say something nice about Trump or shake his hand or agree with a policy or do business with him, there is a large backlash. For the most part, European citizens do not want to see their leader playing nice with Donald Trump... 

It really reflects the whole "damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenario. For Europe, it now seems that keeping powerful allies is a whole lot harder than before. Even on a citizenship level, I had the opportunity to attend the Women's March in Paris which gathered over 7,000 people. The attendees were a mix of French, American, and more. There are French citizens more involved with American politics at the moment than French politics, just because for many it is so extreme from what they are use to. I definitely get a mouthful every week as well during my lunch break with the other teachers at my schools. For the most part, people are actually quite scared. Not only are they scared of Trump, but just scared that the country elected him in general. 

However, fear and backlash from citizens aside, the British guest also commentated on the political climate in general right now. He explained that it use to be two parties discussing issues and throwing out numbers or policies and listening to each side, being more open to comprise, and hopefully reaching a compromise. But now, someone discloses their opinion on a certain issue, another person completely disagrees with that one opinion and then decides that they don't want to listen to anything that person has to say about any issue. Instead of good policy or opinion vs. bad policy or opinion, it is not good person vs. bad person. People are viewing each other as either bad or good in regards to a few political opinions and no one is willing to compromise. 

There is also just the problem with news coverage in general. Not even the opinions of the news coverage, but just the constant news coverage. Another educated commentator joined this episode of The World. However, it wasn't to discuss her thoughts about Donald Trump and his opinions and politics, but rather just the affect of his presence in general. She stated that because the news coverage of Donald Trump, good or bad, politics or reality TV, his constant coverage was blocking news from the rest of the world. 

This professional was currently stationed in Nigeria where there were suicide bombings, starving people, and more. However, this wasn't being covered on the news outlets like Trump was, and that was just one country. She stated that the news is very US-centric and frankly always has been. Yes, the US is globally viewed as an all powerful nation, but she predicts with Trump in office, our "powerful" name will begin to diminish. While news such as who Donald Trump is nominating for certain positions is important for American citizens, it is not necessarily important for the rest of the world. The person appointed to be in charge of the the US education does not have an affect on the world, however, that is the news being broadcasted here and most people cannot escape it. International news outlets are becoming United States news outlets, creating a very narrow street of news being covered. There are stories, cities, countries, nations, and more all over the world that are not getting headlines due the fact one man is taking over it all.

To be honest, I am not really sure how this post was going to end. It was something that I began writing just due to a repeating idea in my head. I find myself trying to end this as if it was a college paper and add an argument and conclusion at the end. But right now, I can't begin to think of a conclusion to this. We are only in the beginning of a new presidency and it feels as if we've been in it for awhile. I will be curious to see whether or not the news outlets calm down on their international headlines regarding the United States and Donald Trump, if they stay steady, or even if it escalates. Overall, I think my main reason for writing this post was due to the fact I personally was shocked by the amount of American headlines I was reading from local French papers. It is weird to think that American headlines are more important and easier to sell than local ones. Also, it would be interesting to see what the news coverage was like when President Obama was elected, or George Bush. Was the coverage this overwhelming in other countries back then? Is it happening now due to the negative opinions of Donald Trump?

The next four years are definitely going to be a whirlwind...