The US-EU trade deal signals a new geopolitical era where security trumps commerce, allies are rewarded for loyalty, and Trump’s strategy forces nations to pick sides – America or China? Writes Helen Thomas

The devil is usually in the detail but when it comes to the US-EU trade deal, the big picture is what counts. EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic told the world all it needed to know in his press conference: “It’s not only about the trade, it’s about security, it’s about Ukraine, it’s about current geopolitical volatility. I cannot go into all the details… I can assure you it was not all about the trade… to have a possibility that the two biggest economies and two closest allies can openly discuss all sensitive issues and as I can judge from the discussion yesterday are very much aligned on the geopolitical issues of the day… there’s additional worth in having this deal done”. The world might not (yet) be fully at war but the European Union has chosen sides. The American defence umbrella is worth almost any price.

This is exactly what Trump intended when he launched Liberation Day. The official White House

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