President Joe Biden will lose no votes over the EU’s decision on Monday to restore travel restrictions on Americans. But it is a bad sign.
The move was as much about Biden’s unwillingness to match Europe’s opening to US travellers this summer as it is about America’s high Delta variant infection rate. It would not have taken much to respond to Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and others who pleaded with him to lift the ban. But it would have meant another battle with US anti-vaxxers. The fact that he refused to lift a finger says a lot about the EU’s lack of clout.
All of which is beginning to remind them of Donald Trump. At a stylistic level the difference between Biden and Trump could hardly be greater. Biden is engaging, he jokes with counterparts and usually says the right things. It is as hard to picture Biden shoving a foreign leader aside in a group photo-op as it is to imagine him launching a family-branded hotel chain. But being likeable is not the same as being a good ally. On that count, Europeans are starting to see continuities between Biden and Trump.