The Dutch papers have been dominated by Donald Trump’s inauguration as new president of the US and the uncertainty  which Dutch and Europe’s leaders now face is reflected in the newspaper editorials.

The Volkskrant, which devoted the first 11 pages of its Saturday edition to events in Washington, chose ‘unheard-of radical start’ as its front page headline.

‘Those who had hoped Donald Trump’s inaugural speech would be one of reconciliation will have been sorely disappointed,’ the paper said. Instead Trump ‘declared war on politics, and that included the members of Congress and the ex-presidents of both parties standing next to him on the podium.’

‘But politics is a tough battle of interests and Trump is part of it. He will badly need the support of the Congress if he wants to get anything done.’

What worries the Volkskrant is the ‘authoritarian undertone’ of the speech. Trump suggested only the people are pure and, apart from Trump, political leaders are dishonest. ‘This sort of rhetoric historically belongs to the sort of dictatorships that America helped defend freedom from,’ the paper concludes.

America first

The Financieele Dagblad comments that Donald Trump’s ‘America first, America first’ heralds an age in which ‘this military and economic super power is retreating behind its borders.’

While Trump claimed he wants to strengthen old alliances his earlier comments about NATO being an ‘obsolete organisation’ contradict this claim. The US is no longer prepared to take on the role of moral arbiter, the FD concludes.

And in an editorial on Saturday, the paper argues that Europe is too weak to challenge Trump’s assertions, given its dependence on the US. Instead, Europe is faced with the need for crisis management and that is ‘regrettable, but the hard reality’, the paper said.

The NRC writes that rather than the ‘fog of war’ (where generals lack the necessary information) Europe is now in the ‘fog of Trump’. ‘And that is even worse: Europe doesn’t now whether or not Trump is the enemy,’ the paper writes.

Brexit fan

Trump’s ideas about Europe are clear, the NRC writes. ‘Trump is a fan of Brexit and he doesn’t care if the EU survives or not. He calls Nato – the post-war world’s main support – ‘obsolete’. But should he be taken literally.?His advisors on foreign affairs and defence have other ideas. What we must wait for are the essential details’, the paper writes.

The Telegraaf comments on the future relationship of the Netherlands and the United States. The paper said that ‘among the negative reactions from Paris and Berlin prime minister Mark Rutte saw the opportunity to score a goal. Rutte said that Netherlands would aim for a normal business like relationship and could function as a bridge between the EU and the US,’ the paper pointed out.