EU Confidential

What a week!

Tariff threats, Greenland brinkmanship and a dramatic Trump U-turn in Davos: EU leaders gathered in Brussels for an emergency summit meant to pick up the pieces of the shattered transatlantic relationship and figure out what to do next.

In this episode of EU Confidential, we’re on the ground, right next to the European Council meeting as it unfolds. Unpacking how Europe can move forward after Trump escalated fast, reversed course even faster — and still left allies rattled. What did the EU learn? Did standing up work? And is Brussels finally rewriting its playbook for dealing with Washington?

Joining host Sarah Wheaton are POLITICO’s own Zoya Sheftalovich, Nick Vinocur and Tim Ross to break it all down.

We also dig into other issues looming over the summit: Trump’s Gaza “Board of Peace,” which has split European capitals; the sudden derailment of the Mercosur trade deal; and Ukraine’s abandoned hopes for a security deal.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump loomed large over the World Economic Forum’s annual get-together in the Swiss Alps — even before he touched down for his big speech. 

In this special episode from Davos, host Anne McElvoy talks to influential European and North American voices about President Trump’s intention to take over Greenland and the consequences for Europe and NATO.

Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen tells Anne that America must decide if it’s on the “side of the predator,” like Russia and China, or the "side of freedom." Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs, meanwhile, insists “that Greenland remain part of Denmark.” She also talks to Anita Anand, Canada’s foreign minister, and influential Harvard economist and the former chief economist of the IMF, Ken Rogoff, who delivers a stark prediction for 2026. Then came the final twist in the tale, when President Trump announced that he was dropping tariffs on the eight European countries who opposed his Greenland plans - after reaching a "framework deal".

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“A little less conversation, a little more action.”

That line from an old Elvis Presley song could double as a critique of Europe’s position right now — and as a prescription.

On this episode of EU Confidential, host Sarah Wheaton speaks with former Spanish foreign minister, Arancha González-Laya, about how Europe should operate at a moment when power is exercised more bluntly and patience for rules is wearing thin. Her core argument echoes Presley’s advice: Europe isn’t powerless — it just needs to use the leverage it already has.

González-Laya, an ex-EU trade negotiator and now dean of the Paris School of International Affairs at Sciences Po, explains what Europe’s leverage looks like in practice: deeper cooperation on energy and defense, and a more assertive use of the internal market. She describes these as Europe’s antidotes to Trump-era chaos — exemplified by his renewed claims over Greenland and the capture of Venezuela’s president — and discusses how Europe could respond to the situation in Iran.

Later, in another installment of the Berlaymont Who’s Who series, POLITICO’s Aitor Hernández-Morales takes a closer look at Dan Jørgensen, the EU’s commissioner for energy and housing.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Europe had barely switched off its out-of-office replies before geopolitics came roaring back.

In the first days of January, events in Caracas — and rhetoric from Washington — jolted Brussels out of its post-holiday slumber and straight back into crisis mode. A U.S. special forces operation captured Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and left more than 100 people dead, reopening old questions about power, sovereignty and just how reliable an ally the United States really is.

This week on EU Confidential, host Sarah Wheaton is joined by Allison Hoffman, Nick Vinocur, Eva Hartog and Bartosz Brzeziński to unpack what Donald Trump’s moves in Venezuela reveal about the world he’s shaping — and the uncomfortable position they leave Europe in.

They dig into Moscow’s humiliation — and the opportunities it may see in chaos — renewed U.S. pressure over Greenland, Europe’s mounting doubts about American security guarantees for Ukraine, and how Brussels is trying to navigate a world where raw power seems to be back in fashion.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

He’s not even European — yet Donald Trump has topped POLITICO’s annual P28 ranking of the most powerful people who will shape Europe in 2026.

EU Confidential host Sarah Wheaton takes you inside the gala in Brussels — where commissioners, MEPs, diplomats, lobbyists and journalists packed into a glittering room, even as the mood underneath the sparkle felt unusually tense.

At the event, Ursula von der Leyen sat down with Carrie Budoff Brown, POLITICO’s executive editor, for an exclusive on-stage conversation — offering one of her first public reactions to Trump’s sharp criticism of EU leaders as "weak," and Washington’s dramatic new security strategy, which seeks to undermine them.Be sure to check out the full 2026 ranking here.

Plus, we bring you Sarah’s conversation with Balázs Orbán, the Hungarian prime minister’s political director, who offers a perspective far outside the Brussels mainstream — on Ukraine, on Europe’s political direction, and on where he believes the EU keeps going wrong.

And finally, we have a taste of Anne McElvoy’s interview with Nick Thomas-Symonds, the U.K.’s minister for European relations (for more, head to: Politics at Sam and Anne's ). And if you haven’t yet, listen to the exclusive interview our colleague Dasha Burns did with Donald Trump on our sister podcast The Conversation.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices