Why Poland's Donald Tusk is best placed to be Europe's 'Trump whisperer' | Paul Taylor

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

78% : Trump may hate Brussels but he likes Poland, where he received a warm welcome during his first presidency.
55% : Enter Tusk, a seasoned centre-right leader who once chaired EU summits, who has defeated rightwing populists at home and maintains good relations with the US, the UK, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte.
53% : Poland has revived the Weimar Triangle cooperation format with Germany and France - a diplomatic agreement to engage in regular dialogue on EU affairs.
51% : Political change in Warsaw has put the country back at the centre of EU politics.
50% : Poland, a fast-growing economy that embarked on a massive defence investment programme after Russia's aggression against Ukraine, rejoined the European mainstream last year after eight years of defying the EU over the rule of law, and picking fights with Germany, the EU's biggest economy, and France, its only nuclear power.
44% : He also stirred controversy in October by threatening to suspend EU asylum rules at Poland's eastern border to prevent the weaponisation of migrants by Belarus and Russia.
43% : But domestic politics could constrain his ability to exert EU leadership in some areas, and European affairs could even backfire on him.
25% : Buffeted by economic, diplomatic and political threats on all sides, the old continent is ill prepared for a new chapter in which Vladimir Putin is pressing his military advantage in Ukraine before Trump can try to force a peace deal that could damage the interests of Ukrainians and Europeans.
24% : Trump, who has spoken of letting Russia do "whatever the hell they want" with Nato countries that don't spend enough on defence, is also threatening massive tariffs against his closest allies that could split Europe and trigger a damaging transatlantic trade war.

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