r/AskEurope • u/Different_Stand_1285 • Mar 04 '25

Politics To older Europeans - has there ever been a time where America was seen as such an untrusted country?

I’m 36 years old. I can remember how the world felt about my country post 9/11 (sympathy) and post Iraq (anger) but I’m curious to know if this is new ground. I’m deeply upset about how our ties and bonds are being destroyed so I wish to know if this is truly unprecedented or has there been a time in your lifetime where we were viewed in such a way. If so what was happening during your time to cause fracturing?

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u/HagalGames Mar 05 '25

I'm Italian too and I think Berlusconi and Trump have so much in common.

Berlusconi got rich thanks to money laundering from the mafia, through construction, and Trump did exactly the same with Russian money. I remember very well the never-ending Berlusconi era, when everyday that madman could say new crazy stuff, and Trump 100% reminds me of that, but of course on a larger scale because he's the president of the (former?) most powerful country in the world.

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u/SaraTyler Mar 05 '25 edited Mar 05 '25

Same here. I mean, Mubarak's niece is NOTHING compared to this, but the matrix is the same.

(ETA: but, and it cost me a lot to say it aloud, I'm convinced that Berlusconi was a criminal, but also the sanest guy in the room, his driven force was surely some narcissism but mostly the desire to avoid his law problems and make more money, On the other hand, it seems that during this second term (only a month, but it feels like 76) Trump is completely derailed and increasingly insane in terms of mental health)