Richard Worley usually crosses the roads of France. A long-time correspondent for the Swiss press in Paris and in particular for the publication Blick, this time this time he gets into an American camper and sets off on a journey from Chicago to Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump's palace in Florida, to meet what he calls "camper America" - the people of the billionaire president.
He wrote a book about it, "This America That Hates Us", which will be published on October 29. An angle of attack that the journalist did not expect, but which, once there, "caught his attention": on American roads he encountered nothing but contempt and hatred for this old Europe, guilty of weakness in the eyes of the Magician America ("Make America Great Again") and of having "taken advantage" of the United States for too long.
Richard Worley's book goes beyond purely political issues, because not only does the Trump administration attack Europe, its rules and its model of peaceful coexistence, but also an entire segment of American society and its powerful Silicon Valley want to change it.
In an interview with the French newspaper L'Express, the Franco-Swiss journalist said that the position of European leaders, accustomed to "crawling on their bellies" in the Oval Office, is not conducive to solving the problem.
L'EXPRESS: You have traveled the roads of America to talk about Europe, sometimes encountering contempt, often hatred. Who are these Americans who hate us?
RICHARD WORLEY: It is mainly about Maga America and this hatred strikes me. When people see the title of my book, many of them tell me that this is not true, that America does not hate us... I am sorry, but today there is an America that hates us and it is completely saturated with Maga theories. Donald Trump's success lies in the fact that he has managed to instill in people's minds hatred for a number of things: first of all migrants and Joe Biden. But very quickly Europeans also appear. Last year, just before the election, I traveled in a camper for two months from Chicago to Mar-a-Lago, Florida. In the campsites I met this America that gathers in the evenings around barbecues and spontaneously tells me: "You Europeans are already useless." This is hatred: this idea that we are useless, that we have no convincing message for this population that is largely white and of European origin. This Maga America values strength and sees us as too weak, too tolerant and too vague: they want a clear image, with white Christians, married people, etc.
L'EXPRESS: Does this America see Europe as a counter-model to its society and its values?
RICHARD WORLEY: In fact, the hatred is fueled by our courage to call ourselves an alternative. Questions related to defense and the army constantly come up in conversations: "Europeans, you criticize us for the wars we have fought and that we regret, like Iraq, for example, but you did not help us". I have met Americans who lost their children in the war, but now their "boys" are gone and they believe that Europeans are untrustworthy.
L'EXPRESS: Has this anti-European sentiment become stronger than before, or has Donald Trump simply found the right words to express it?
RICHARD WORLEY: The main difference in modern America, it seems to me, is the silence of pro-Europeans. Fear has gripped everyone. There, the mass demonstrations "We Don't Want a King" and the millions of protesters may create an impression of awakening, but the reality remains the same: in American universities, professors, including those in European studies, are careful about what they say.
A kind of omerta has taken hold among the pro-European elite, while European countries, by contrast, have chosen to bow to Trump. There are far fewer European cultural events than before, fewer European concerts, etc. Europe has softened, which opens the door to Trumpist theories.
There is also a syndrome of the third or fourth generation: the grandchildren of immigrants (as is the case with Trump), even if they do not like Europe, remain inextricably linked to it. Then the connection is broken; this is the generational effect. We are faced with an America that no longer respects its ancestors or forefathers, that is in a state of rebellion and uprising.
L'EXPRESS: Have you found the answer to this question on the roads of America: why does Donald Trump personally hate Europe?
RICHARD WORLEY: This is in the realm of psychology, which I'm not particularly qualified to do, but it's clear that Donald Trump has a problem with his origins. His father, Fred, spent years pretending to be Swedish so he could work with Jews (ed. note: despite being of German descent). As a teenager, Trump grew up with this identity theft from his father for business purposes, and his father also harbored a passion for the semi-fascist theories of Charles Lindbergh in the 1930s.
Furthermore, Trump fundamentally dislikes Germany. First of all, it is an economically strong country, especially thanks to the success of its cars, which Trump detests. Forty years ago, he hated Japan for the same reasons. He can't stand the insult to American industry. The third element is the result of his lack of culture: he was amazed when he came to Notre Dame, but overall he has a Europe complex.
Europe reflects his image as an American plutocrat, as it does for many of his electorate - people for whom money and profit are the only variables. For them, the world is about wealth and the ambition to get rich, and Europe seems to them like a constant insult. That is why Trump comes to Europe mainly for the golf.
L" EXPRESS: With J. D. Vance's speech in Munich, Elon Musk's personal attacks on European leaders and the humiliations inflicted on Volodymyr Zelensky, this American administration seems to be moving to a new level of hostility towards Europe. What has changed since Donald Trump's first term?
RICHARD WORLEY: He learned the lessons of Trump I: first, he understood that he had to attack very quickly, that the success of a term depends on the first and second years. He has also faced the constraints of the midterm elections. But when Trump accelerates, he needs a scapegoat: it is easier to bury Europe than China! Second, Trump, like all his "high-profile" MAGA electoral clients, and unlike us, knows that Europe is a rich continent.
J.D. Vance, the representative of Peter Thiel (tech billionaire, owner of Palantir ), knows that there is money to be made in our countries. We Europeans remain focused on our cultural heritage, but we are the continent where GAFAM (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft ) makes their profits. Trump's goal is Europe's obedience. The rest want to take our money, and they are right: our consumers are dependent on American electronics and, unlike China or Russia, have no alternative. Trump wants to make Europeans sheep, and Vance wants to shear them.
L'EXPRESS: In Donald Trump's second term, European strategy also seems to have evolved, with more bowing and attempts to appease him. Is this a good approach and do our leaders have a choice?
RICHARD WORLEY: I was surprised by the lack of cultural reaction from Europe. Europeans were shocked over the last year. They had underestimated the political hammer blow, the fact that Trump would hit them so hard on the head. And on the other hand, they were stunned to discover that not only Trump, but all of America hates Europe. Many European leaders, diplomats and ambassadors had not foreseen this at all. Perhaps now they will act... What is the answer to us, European citizens?
The numbers are there: we no longer go to the United States. This is not a boycott, but we have the impression that it is a crazy country, so we stop traveling there. The problem with this strategy is that it only feeds the clichés: we are sinking not into hatred for America, but into indifference towards it. Maybe even into contempt. In any case, the gap is widening.
L" EXPRESS: You write that Donald Trump is following the mantra of his mentor Roy Cohn: "Attack, attack, attack". How long will European leaders tolerate this? Will Europe at some point say: "Enough!"?
RICHARD WORLEY: Unfortunately, at the moment most Europeans, and therefore political leaders, are saying: "Okay, they hate us, but we need them too much." This is what the publication Le Grand Continent called "happy vassalage". I would say more precisely, it is an unhappy vassalage, which is worse because there is no happiness anymore. We know that the Americans hate us, but we also know that they are too powerful and too rich.
L" EXPRESS: Even if Donald Trump had met with Vladimir Putin in Budapest or imposed insane tariffs on us?
RICHARD WORLEY: Today, the prevailing opinion in Europe at all levels is that the Americans are too powerful and too rich. The Draghi report from 2024 clearly shows that the innovation gap is too big and will not be bridged. Nobel Prize winner Philippe Aghion also says this. The Americans hate us, we know that, but let's try to embrace them so that they hate us less. This worries me deeply, because I think most European governments share this opinion, with two exceptions: Spain and France.
For Spain, the question of Palestine plays a role, but above all it is the Latin American aspect, this historical link with this continent where the Spanish were "first". There is a cultural clash between Spain and the United States that is often overlooked.
For France, the reasons are different, since we created the United States and we maintain a sense of superiority over them. But apart from Spain and France, no European country seems willing to bear the consequences of Donald Trump's policies: Poles prefer to be hated but protected; Hungarians believe that hatred is love; Italians remain Atlanticists by definition. Germans are almost proud of their hatred...
L'EXPRESS: In the materials you have collected, not a single European or French politician stands out. Don't the members of the American Maga mention Emmanuel Macron or Marine Le Pen?
RICHARD WORLEY: The Americans I met immediately thought of two concepts: the European Union and Germany. Oddly enough, the European Union exists for them much more than it does for us: like Trump, they perceive it as a bloc. They attribute to the EU much more cohesion and resources than it actually possesses. Meanwhile, Germany is reviving for economic reasons: cars, the pharmaceutical industry... The German economy is quite tangibly rooted in the United States, which is impressive.
They tell me relatively little about France. Except - and I don't mention this in the book, although it is an element of hatred - to tell me about Brigitte Macron and the conspiracy theories that claim she is a man... It's terrible how this story circulates in all the circles subscribed to the news accounts of the Maga universe. They watch Fox News, Joe Rogan, blogs. And for them, that's France.
L'EXPRESS: You've been traveling around France for years and telling your Swiss readers about it. Do you see a similar discourse - anti-Americanism - growing in France?
RICHARD WORLEY: There's no hatred of the United States here. Although traditional anti-Americanism persists, Donald Trump, as far as I can see, is not hated in France. He's sometimes despised, but more importantly, he's feared. We see him as a threat to our interests, but many people admire him nonetheless.
Trump's strength, including in France, lies in the fact that he has created an image that resonates with everyone: a billionaire who doesn't care about traditional politicians, a "real man". In France, Trump is seen as a caricature, rude, but not hated. So much so that some are saying: "We need a French Trump".
L'EXPRESS: However, Marine Le Pen seems hesitant to adopt the Trump model, as do most political parties in France...
RICHARD WORLEY: In Switzerland, we are familiar with the Trump model: we had our own Swiss version of Donald Trump, named Christoph Blocher. He is the founder of the Swiss People's Party (SVP), the far-right or radical right party that has been in power in Switzerland for thirty years. He himself was a federal councilor. If it weren't for the Swiss system of mandatory consensus, where power is shared between the main parties in parliament, he would have won a majority.
Blocher is a combination of several qualities: "the strong man", that is, macho and masculine; harsh rhetoric, especially regarding immigrants; a cult of wealth; hatred of the state; and the praise of borders. This model is extremely useful for export.
If you dig deeper, it turns out that this is exactly what many people want: a rich man who is considered incorruptible because he does not need money, which is of course false; he wants borders that reassure everyone; he loves power, which remains an important element of society. Europe is hated because it has tried to be the answer to all this, not to be guided solely by profit and power, not to be limited to borders and to protect us from authoritarian rule.
L'EXPRESS: In your book, a German professor speaks of the "American poison" spreading in our European democracies. Does the Trump administration herald the end of today's Europe?
RICHARD WORLEY: I am just a journalist; I can't predict events, but if Donald Trump wins the midterm elections next year... Today he posted a video of himself throwing excrement at American protesters from his plane: if he wins the midterm elections, there will be no limits and I fear that Europe will be the one to receive this excrement. If he retains control of both houses of Parliament, we must prepare our umbrellas: he could go crazy, and his followers even more so. Whatever happens, we are in trouble because, unfortunately, institutional Europe has given up on the profit.
This is what Mario Draghi says in his 2024 report, which is why we don't have Gafam: we cannot tolerate profit, neither in France nor elsewhere. And yet money remains the driving force for innovation. We have also given up borders, we have also given up our power, in essence, we have not found an alternative to authoritarianism, since democracy remains structurally fragile and ineffective. I am not exactly worried, but I am anxious. Nothing will stop Trump's Americans.