1. 🇪🇸 NEW ERA FOR EUROPEAN PATRIOTISM?

Over the weekend, the world watched Spain beat Argentina 1-0 in extra time to win the 2026 FIFA World Cup at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, their second world title in history. As World Cup hero Ferran Torres rode through Madrid streets in a “Make Spain Great Again” hat, the image captured something bigger: the rise of a confident, unapologetic patriotism across Europe, inspired in part by Trump’s political playbook.

Could this signal conservative movements finding their footing again in the EU? When one of the world’s most celebrated players in Europe dons a MAGA-style hat after winning the world’s biggest sporting event, it’s not just a fashion choice. It’s an indicator.

This year’s World Cup was a celebration of American leadership. Before a single ball was kicked, the tournament itself was a diplomatic and logistical triumph for Trump, with his administration processing over 5 million visa applications, holding off burdensome travel fees, and ensuring millions of fans from around the globe could flood American cities without chaos.

Then came the final, where President Trump sat with FIFA President Gianni Infantino before presenting the World Cup trophy to Spain’s captain.

And he’s not done. Following the success of their working together, reports have emerged that President Trump is interested in nominating FIFA President Gianni Infantino for UN Secretary-General, the man who helped make this the greatest sporting event in American history.

2. 🇫🇷 FRANCE’S GREEN AGENDA IS TEARING MACRON’S CABINET APART

France’s political infighting has not relented.

Over the past year, the country has burned through four prime ministers, including one who resigned after less than 24 hours in office, only to be reappointed days later. Now this plague of uncertainty is washing through others in cabinet positions.

On Wednesday, France’s Minister for Ecological Transition Monique Barbut announced her resignation over claims that “the ‘forces opposing’ her green transition agenda had become ‘too powerful.” She took to LinkedIn to announce she was quitting, before Macron refused her resignation, and she agreed to stay.

For an administration already struggling to hold its coalition together, this kind of ideologically-driven instability is becoming a pattern, and it shortens the runway for the National Rally party to consolidate power.

🚗 GOP TO EU: YOUR DIGITAL RULES ARE A TRADE WAR IN DISGUISE

Twenty-five Republican members of Congress sent a letter to President Trump this week encouraging him to build on his strong stance against the EU’s systematic targeting of American tech companies with more forceful measures.

At the center of their complaint is the Digital Markets Act, or DMA, which has saddled Amazon, Apple, and Google, among others, with “gatekeeper” obligations while Chinese platforms like Temu and AliExpress escape regulation altogether. In the letter, lawmakers accused the EU of using the DMA as “a tool of economic extraction and regulatory coercion against American firms.”

Among the items lawmakers suggested was utilizing Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to launch trade investigations, a step that would formally put tariffs and other retaliatory measures on the table.

Responding to the letter, EU spokesperson Thomas Regnier said: “The EU has the sovereign right to regulate economic activities on its territory…. we will keep enforcing our rules in a fair and non-discriminatory manner – as we have always done.”

Unfortunately for American companies designated as gatekeepers, this “fair and non-discriminatory treatment” from the EU takes the form of fining American tech companies more than they collect in taxes from their own tech sector. Using regulation as a backdoor trade barrier has a cost… and when the United States decides to collect, European companies will be the ones paying it.