Brussels Edition

Trump Effect Prompts Warmer EU-UK Relations

Britons increasingly see the UK’s interests aligned with the EU’s

Ursula von der Leyen, Keir Starmer and Antonio Costa, president of the European Council, left to right, during a visit aboard HMS Sutherland frigate as part of the UK-EU summit in May 2025.Photographer: Jason Alden/Bloomberg

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By Suzanne Lynch

April 16, 2026 at 1:00 PM UTC

Welcome to the Brussels Edition. I’m Suzanne Lynch, Bloomberg’s Brussels bureau chief, bringing you the latest from the EU each weekday. Make sure you’re signed up.

As far-right parties across Europe reconsider their links with US President Donald Trump in the aftermath of Viktor Orban’s dramatic defeat in Hungary’s election, the dynamic is having an effect on European politics in other ways.

Research out today by polling company Ipsos shows Britons increasingly believe that the UK’s interests are the same as the EU’s as they move further away from Washington. Some 43% of respondents see EU-UK interests as the same or mostly the same, up from 32% in 2023, it showed.