How does the former European Commissioner for the Internal Market explain Trump's return to the White House? For Thierry Breton, this is due to “leadership”: “Trump speaks, he says simple things, he has a simple economic program. And when you listen to the voters, they believe that he is going to do what he says. And I think so, He’s going to do what he says.”
Compared to 2016, it is in fact “different”: “He is very prepared, he believes that he has the experience and that he is the only one to have this experience, including in his entourage. He will be operational very quickly: within 100 days, he Things will happen, he will create his team, but he will be the only boss.”
“The most worrying thing is the schism in the United States, the extreme polarization, with two blocs which no longer speak to each other, which no longer understand each other”believes Thierry Breton. “We should have more soothing language, but everything suggests that he will not come. Trump is four years old, he will want to carry out everything he said.”
“Those who master social networks have power”
On the role of social networks, one of the former European Commissioner's hobbyhorses, according to him, they have “including to create this polarization”. But he believes that Europe is better armed against these abuses: “They are regulated, we are the first democracy in the world to have done so. We cannot use these platforms to massively amplify fake news, create distortion, impacts on democracy.”
“But in the United States, when we have 203 million subscribers, like Elon Musk, on the X network which has 300 million (so two thirds of the people on algorithms, it creates a very strong impact: we can clearly say that those who master social networks can have additional power.”
