‘It’s their headache, not ours’: America demands Europe follows Trump’s bigoted anti-DEI policies, politicians tell them to shove it

Last month, when Donald Trump told reporters that he ran the country and the world, he wasn’t kidding. He really does think he runs the world as proven by recent demands made by American embassies in European countries.

That’s right, the Trump administration is now trying to tell other countries what to do. According to an article from Swedenherald.com, the U.S. embassy in Stockholm demanded the City Planning Committee gut its DEI policies. It also states that local American embassy contractors could not be involved in any diversity operations.

The “contract” sent to the City Planning Committee stated that any contractors wanting to do business with the embassy must ditch DEI hiring practices in order to comply with Trump’s policies in the U.S. The committee was given ten working days to sign and send it back.

Sweden wasn’t the only one to receive these demands, companies in France, Spain, and other countries in Europe were all given the same instructions by American embassies. Apparently Trump and his administration think they genuinely have the authority to control hiring policies in countries on the other side of the ocean.

It would be a headache for American embassies

In Sweden the demands were outright rejected. The Vice Mayor for City Planning in Stockholm, Jan Valeskog, called them “bizarre” and “completely absurd,” going on to say that “It’s contrary to everything we stand for. They should withdraw these peculiarities.” 

According to Valeskog, the American embassy has essentially shot itself in the foot. They would face future trouble in Stockholm if they decided to terminate contracts with the City Planning Office. “[They] will have a hard time getting building permits if they, for example, want to rebuild. It’s their headache, not ours.”

On X, people called this latest move embarrassing for Trump’s government.

It’s a harsh wake up call for the U.S. and Trump

The sentiment across the continent is pretty much the same with the Ministry of Foreign Trade in France labelling the demands “a form, obviously, of interference”. In a statement on the matter the Ministry vowed to “defend their companies, their consumers, but also their values.”

Meanwhile, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson in Spain stated “there will be no step backwards in defending the rights of women and the LGTBQ community in Spain and its companies.”

Despite what Donald Trump might think, he clearly doesn’t have as much power as he thinks he does. He can’t force his backwards policies on other countries and the response in Europe has proven that. Jan Valeskog remained optimistic about the situation stating, “I expect the embassy to withdraw its bizarre demand directed at the City of Stockholm’s City Planning Department.”