It’s beyond time Europe denounced Donald Trump’s trashing of democracy in the US

The convention to stay out of allies’ internal affairs does not apply. What happens in America does not stay in America, writes Paul Taylor.

A woman displays a 'No Kings' sign as she participates in a pro-democracy, anti-Trump protest outside the US embassy at the Pariser Platz square in Berlin, Saturday, October 18, 2025. Picture: Markus Schreiber/AP

What do you do when you discover your best friend is abusive to their partner at home?

That question, or something similar, should be addressed to European leaders — and indeed to all of us in the European public space who are watching, often speechless, as Donald Trump takes a cudgel to the institutions of American democracy.