Biden’s debate performance shakes Europe’s Trump anxiety

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At a meeting between Joe Biden and an EU leader earlier this year, the European delegation was relieved to find the American president sharp and convincing, right down to the final moments of the conversation.

“He ended the meeting with the same anecdote he started it with,” said one person briefed on the discussion. “Everyone’s heart sank.”

Concerns about Biden’s age, mental acuity and ability to beat Donald Trump in November’s election have been growing steadily in European capitals this year, as governments fret over what Trump’s return would mean for transatlantic trade, security relations and Ukraine.

That spiked on Friday morning as European officials watched in horror at Biden’s disastrous debate performance, with many taking the rare step of openly criticizing a sitting U.S. president.

The anxiety comes as Europe’s centrist parties face a rising wave of far-right and populist politicians. Far-right groups won about a quarter of the seats in European Parliament elections, while France’s far-right is expected to win the majority of votes in Sunday’s snap elections.

“Maybe Europe will finally wake up after the first televised debate,” said Michael Roth, a German Social Democrat MP who chairs the Bundestag’s foreign affairs committee. “Waiting anxiously for Biden to be re-elected doesn’t help at all.”

A possible second Trump presidency is seen as a major geopolitical threat in Europe, not least because he has called into question the defense of NATO allies in the event of conflict and promised steep tariffs on transatlantic trade. European diplomats are scrambling to come up with mitigating measures, while at the same time praying that they are not necessary.

EU officials in Brussels, who have enjoyed a much more cohesive relationship with the Biden administration, acknowledge the US president’s notable physical deterioration over the past four years. Several European diplomats at this month’s G7 leaders’ summit in Italy, where Biden skipped the formal summit dinner, privately commented on his notable lack of concentration at times and his physical limitations.

Politicians in Germany, a country that drew particular ire during Trump’s presidency, have expressed deep concern about Biden’s weak performance in the debates.

Michael Link, a member of parliament for the liberal FDP, which is part of the governing coalition, said that “it was sometimes difficult to understand what Biden was saying.”

“Democrats will have to decide at their convention in mid-August whether they are really going to run Joe Biden,” he said, adding that they should now think carefully about who had the best chance of winning against Trump.

“Trump’s statements in the debate were alarming for Germany and Europe. His foreign policy statements are confusing and irritating, for example when he claims that he will resolve the war in Ukraine with Putin, of course without mentioning the Europeans,” Link said.

Norbert Röttgen, a member of parliament for the centre-right CDU party and foreign policy expert, said: “The Democrats have to change their candidate now.”

In Poland, the US presidential campaign has been watched with apprehension at a time when Russia threatens NATO’s eastern flank and neighbouring Ukraine is heavily dependent on US arms supplies. Politicians from both parties in Poland have long regarded Washington as their most important security partner.

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski joined the chorus of voices suggesting that Biden should consider withdrawing to avoid a disastrous transfer of power. “It’s important to manage your own journey into the sunset,” Sikorski joked.

In Italy, where Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has openly expressed his support for Trump, other members of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government have been very circumspect, avoiding any public comment on the debate or Biden’s alarming performance.

However, former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, now a centrist opposition lawmaker, has openly called for Biden to step down and make way for an alternative candidate.

“Joe Biden can’t do it,” Renzi wrote in X. “As a senator, vice president and president, he served the US with honor. He does not deserve an ignominious end… changing horses is everyone’s duty.”