President Elect Donald Trump/ France

Reaction Paper: President Elect Donald Trump/ France

Summary I:

The first article from the Daily Caller journal by Enjeti reports that France’s Foreign Minister believes that Europe, as a whole, should stand together more in order to protect European interests after Brexit and the election of Donald Trump. Also, French President Francois Hollande agrees with this proclamation and thinks that this would build a stronger France and a more united Europe. Former French Prime Minister Alain Juppe commented on the election's result and said that it “forces us to reorganize ourselves because the United States will defend its interests so we will need to defend ours” (Enjeti, 2016). He wishes to defend the French and the Europeans against the potential uncertainty after the American election. According the article, president Hollande, who has a 4%, approval rating, faces a competitive upcoming presidential primary in January. Meanwhile, Marine Le Pen the leader of the National Front party is growing in popularity; she has received nearly “30% approval” in a recent poll, which makes her a serious contender (Enjeti, 2016).

Summary II:

The other article from The New York Times journal discusses the parallels that can be drawn between the movement that resulted in the election of Trump and the similar sentiments in Europe. For example, Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s far-right National Front party was not seen as a threat in France’s upcoming presidential election. Le Pen is considered to be a “disruptive political force” (Nossiter, 2016). Now, political rivals warn that the same thing that happened in the U.S. could happen in France and Le Pen could get elected. The movement towards anti-immigration and anti-globalization has spread throughout many other European countries as well, including the Netherlands, Austria, Italy, Hungary, and various Balkan countries. Geert Wilders, the leader of the Dutch far-right Freedom