1. VP VANCE IN HUNGARY

Vice President JD Vance traveled to Budapest this week to stand alongside Prime Minister Viktor Orbán ahead of Hungary’s pivotal upcoming election.

Speaking at the Mathias Corvinus Collegium, Vance called out the EU’s relentless attacks against Hungary’s economy and infrastructure as a punishment for Orban’s defiance against the Brussels establishment.

The Vice President says EU bureaucrats “have tried to destroy the economy of Hungary. They have tried to make Hungary less energy independent. They have tried to drive up costs for Hungarian consumers.”

President Trump also called into the rally of about 5,000 and praised Orban for being a “fantastic leader” for Hungary, stating:

“I love Hungary and I love that Viktor, I’ll tell you. He’s a fantastic man. We’ve had a tremendous relationship, and he does a job. Remember this? He didn’t allow people to storm your country and invade your country like other people have and ruin their countries.”

The Trump administration has led the charge against Brussels’ overreach, urging them to reverse course before it is too late, consistently noting that Hungary has been a conservative island in the EU.

Hungary’s parliamentary election will be held on Sunday, April 12, 2026.

2. BRUSSELS PUMPS THE BRAKES ON AMERICAN TRUCKS

The EU has found a new target for their overregulation agenda, this time it’s American pickup trucks.

According to The Financial Times, American Automakers have accused Brussels of tightening its Individual Vehicle Approval (IVA) scheme specifically to keep their large trucks, including the Ford F-150, Chevrolet Silverado, and Ram 1500, off European roads.

The regulatory changes, expected to launch in 2027, come despite the EU agreeing to cut tariffs on American vehicles to zero as part of last year’s U.S.-EU trade deal.

U.S. Ambassador to the EU Andrew Puzder put it plainly: “You can’t have low tariffs and massive non-tariff trade barriers and claim you’ve got a functioning relationship.”

The American Automotive Policy Council has already urged the Trump administration to block the EU’s decision. President Trump and American automakers will not let this stand.

BRUSSELS BACKS DOWN: HOW TRUMP FORCED THE EU’S HAND ON TECH REGS

For years, EU officials have insisted that its regulatory frameworks like the Digital Markets Act were non-negotiable, brushing off repeated efforts from U.S. leaders. Brussels has tried to squeeze American tech companies for every last cent. But that posture is beginning to soften, due in large part to the Trump administration’s sustained pressure.

President Trump’s pressure campaign has included tariff threats and visa sanctions against EU officials, among other tactics, and the Commission has finally signaled a willingness to come back to the table.

This reversal marks a pivotal win for President Trump and his administration and its unrelenting pushback against Brussels’ oppressive regulations, which have been “one of the biggest impediments to and obstacles to having a strong and vibrant economic transatlantic partnership,” as characterized by Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg last week.

The dialogue could give the U.S. a meaningful say in how the EU enforces its tech and competition rules against American companies, marking a seismic shift from the Commission’s previous posture of refusing to engage outright. As American companies targeted under the DMA continue to grapple with billions in annual fines and compliance fees, any easing of these pressures is sure to be met with widespread approval.

The decision to reopen dialogue – just as costs begin to trickle down to European businesses and consumers themselves – indicates the EU likely can no longer afford to dismiss U.S. concerns outright, especially as President Trump continues to push back aggressively on behalf of American industry.

1. EUROPE SAYS NO TO CENTRALIZED BUDGET

Brussels’ latest long-term budget idea has sparked a revolt. The European Commission wants to bundle major funding streams, including agriculture (CAP), cohesion, fisheries, migration, and border funds, into a single national pot for 2028–2034.

This move will give Brussels even more power. Regional leaders see this as a power grab that sidelines local priorities and breaks with cohesion’s core promise: reducing disparities through region-based policy, not top-down bargaining. The President of the European Committee of the Regions warned, “We know what centralized systems mean: committees making decisions from above without knowing the reality on the ground.”

Fourteen member states, including Italy, Poland, and Romania, signed a non-paper demanding a stand-alone cohesion policy with region-based allocation, after leaks showed Brussels weighing a single-pool model tied to national reform targets. The President of Lombardy, Attilio Fontana, is leading the protest against centralized funds and called it “illogical.”

All we see is the same old EU bureaucracy agenda: consolidate budgets, expand discretion, and shrink oversight.

For those in Europe who want accountability, this fight matters.

2. BRUSSELS ISSUES ANOTHER HIT TO AMERICAN TECH

The EU interoperability push, despite masquerading as being pro-competition, is just the latest blow to American innovation in Europe’s wide-ranging regulatory campaign against US Tech companies.

Part of the EU’s much-criticized Digital Markets Act, these interoperability obligations mandate that American tech firms open-up their platforms to European rivals. While the impact was expected to be costly, this push has had even more devastating consequences than previously imagined, as detailed in a recent article.

By forcing American tech firms to open their platforms to competitors, Brussels has undermined security, invited fraud by decoupling from trusted payment safeguards, and stalled product rollouts. New features like Live Translation for Airpods, for instance, aren’t available for European Consumers on account of the DMA.

This kind of forced access not only dampens the incentive to introduce new features rapidly, it also opens the door for Chinese rivals exempt from the DMA’s stringent regulations to artificially close the technological gap.

If Brussels wants competitiveness and real benefits for consumers, it should work towards collaborative, security‑respecting frameworks rather than doubling down on heavy‑handed rules that stifle innovation, degrade privacy, and destabilize transatlantic relations.

BUREAUCRATS THREATEN PRESIDENT TRUMP’S GOLDEN AGE

A recent op-ed by EU‑US Forum’s Joe Grogan and Matt Mowers warns that the European Union’s far‑left regulatory agenda threatens to undercut America’s pro‑growth trajectory.

Brussels is attempting to export its rulebook to the United States through extraterritorial mandates and market leverage. A widening web of EU measures, like the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), are bogging down American businesses with extreme regulations and reporting requirements.

Grogan and Mowers emphasized, “these rules would require any U.S. company operating in the EU to track, report, and disclose every link in their supply chain for ESG madness. CS3D, for example, could make an American manufacturer legally responsible for the labor or environmental practices of suppliers halfway around the world. CSRD would force businesses to publish detailed sustainability reports under EU-defined standards, even if they never sell directly to European consumers.”

Brussels’ rules aren’t limited to big corporations. They drag small and mid‑size businesses into the same maze of paperwork and penalties, at steep cost and with impossible benchmarks. Grogan and Mowers laid out, “A small or mid-sized company might have hundreds of suppliers and subcontractors. Tracking each one to comply with European paperwork could take thousands of hours and millions of dollars.”

The EU seeks to regulate the rest of the world and destroy businesses with their out-of-touch environmental policies, but President Trump has been taking a strong stand against the EU to protect Americans and businesses alike. He has brought back American prosperity, and he won’t let the Brussels bureaucrats disrupt that. Grogan and Mowers said it best:

“Trump can protect the Golden Age he has worked so hard to launch. He can make clear that American companies will not be ruled from Brussels. He can stand firm in defense of our workers, our industries, and our economic future. With Trump’s strong leadership, America can continue down the path to lasting prosperity.”

1. FRANCE NEEDS ELECTIONS, NOT CHAOS

Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella are demanding immediate dissolution of the French parliament.

Macron’s approval rating has hit a six-year low, and he has yet another Prime Minister facing imminent collapse. Instead of letting voters decide, we’re getting more establishment-backed deals.

Bardella and Le Pen are right, France must dissolve parliament quickly in order to build a budget and keep the government functioning.Why endure months more of governmental paralysis when fresh elections could provide a real mandate?

The National Rally has consistently championed national sovereignty and policies that put French families first. Recent polling indicates snap elections would likely strengthen the National Rally.

The only question is whether dissolution will come quickly enough to keep the government afloat.

2. ROMANIA PUSHES BACK ON GREEN IDEOLOGY

Romania is taking a new approach to energy policy, negotiating with the European Union to extend the operation of its coal-fired power plants beyond current phase-out timelines.

While EU leadership pushes aggressive decarbonization targets, Romania’s energy minister is engaging in discussions that actually consider economic realities and national energy independence. The Romanian government recognizes what many European leaders refuse to acknowledge: reliable energy infrastructure matters more than virtue signaling.

This pragmatic stance becomes even more important given the broader European energy landscape. The country is simultaneously investing in offshore gas projects like Neptun Deep, which could begin production in 2027 and reduce dependence on Russian energy, a strategic win for both Romania and European security.

Energy security isn’t just an economic issue—it’s a matter of national security. Romania understands this reality, even if EU climate activists don’t.

3. SCARED TO SEARCH

A recently completed survey of 5,000 Europeans found that the Digital Markets Act has had devastating consequences for consumers.

Europeans surveyed reported a substantial decline in online map & search engine functions due to complications traceable to the DMA. This includes a 50% longer search-time compared with the pre-DMA duration, among other troubling findings.

Other top findings include:

• A majority of Europeans would like services to be restored to their pre-DMA state, with some consumers saying they would be willing to pay a premium to have them restored.
• Most Europeans’ online experience is worse today than before early 2024. Two-thirds feel they now have to search longer for relevant online content than pre-DMA.
• 42% of Europeans that travel at least once a month say that search results for flights and hotels are less helpful today than before the DMA.
• Majorities of Europeans, and over 70% in Southern Europe, would like to restore pre-DMA services. And they would even be willing to pay a premium to get them back.

Luckily, President Trump has continued to have the back of American Tech companies against this heavy-handed regulation, and may soon have most of Europe on his side as well with how poorly the regulation has been received.

BRUSSELS BACKROOM DEALING

The European Union is once again demonstrating bureaucratic maneuvering, crafting an “internal safeguard measure” to ram through the massive EU-Mercosur trade deal despite legitimate concerns from member states.

Rather than addressing the French farmers’ objections to flooding European markets with inexpensive South American beef and poultry, Brussels has decided to work around the problem. The EU has split the agreement into separate trade and political sections, allowing the trade provisions to pass with just a qualified majority while sidelining concerns about fair competition and food standards.

The deal with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay will create what Brussels touts as the “world’s largest free-trade area.” European farmers are left to pay the price.

European farmers deserve better than political leaders putting their own elitist needs above those of the working class.

1. WILL MACRON MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION?

With François Bayrou’s shaky government on the verge of another fall, President Emmanuel Macron has an important decision with 3 non-compelling options:

1. Appoint a new PM: Macron could try a third prime minister. Names like Sébastien Lecornu are floating around, but he comes from Macron’s Renaissance Party, so will it change anything? Probably not. 41% of French citizens want to see a PM from The National Rally, the Party that Marine Le Pen comes from.

2. Snap elections: Macron could dissolve parliament… again. But last year’s vote gave us a hung assembly. Why expect better now?

3. Resign: Not happening. Macron has always ruled it out; his resignation would give too much potential for someone from the opposing parties to take his seat.

The decision with the least amount of risk to Macron: hold the line, appoint someone new, and try to stabilize. France needs and deserves strong and stable leadership, which is something that Macron has been unable to provide.

2. HUNGARY’S QUIET ECONOMIC STRENGTH

While much of Europe grapples with sluggish growth and persistent deficits, Hungary is charting a different course, quietly building one of the EU’s most resilient economies.

Since 1990, Hungary has nearly doubled its inflation-adjusted GDP per capita, with nearly half of that growth happening since 2010 under conservative leadership. Pro-business reforms, like the simplified KATA tax for small entrepreneurs, have spurred job creation and self-employment, now accounting for over 9% of the workforce as of 2022.

Despite running deficits like most countries, Hungary has kept them in check with rules that redirect unexpected revenue toward debt reduction.

While critics focus on deficits, Hungary’s steady growth and fiscal innovation suggest that conservative, practical policies can deliver long-term economic stability, without Brussels micromanagement.

RETIRING IN POVERTY

A new EU watchdog warning reveals a worrisome truth: 1 in 5 Europeans risks retiring in poverty, and women face a 30% higher risk than men. The root cause? An aging population completely relying on an unsustainable pension system.

By 2050, there’ll be only 1.76 workers per retiree, down from 3 today. Europe simply can’t afford to keep relying on state pensions alone.

The fix isn’t more government spending, it’s smarter fiscal policy. Brussels should be pushing for self-reliance; however, they are pushing for over reliance on the government, and that is not sustainable for the aging population.