Europe, are you ready for prime time?

President Barack Obama meets with Eurozone leaders on the Laurel Cabin patio during the G8 Summit at Camp David, Maryland, May 19, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) Will the EU need to build a retreat in the outskirts of Brussels to convene informal summits with world powers?

The primary season for the 2016 presidential election in the United States is drawing to a close. And despite primaries in some states (such as California or New Mexico) are still a few weeks away, there is already a de facto candidate from the Republican Pary, Donald J. Trump.

In this article I won't discuss about the possibilities of a Trump White House versus either Hilary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, some kind of trick from the Republican establishment (people like Paul Ryan, John Kasich or Mitt Rommey) to force a second vote in the National Convention (in which delegates' vote is free); or an eleventh-hour independent candidate. On the contrary, it is about the effects of a possible Trump administration for US leadership and the European Union.

This article isn't a thorough analysis about Trump's ideas on foreign policy either. Rather, I argue that at least during the first couple of years of a Trump administration, regardless of the actual policies he would pursue, the perception created about him internationally would have big enough an impact in the role the United States plays in the world which may leave the European Union as the actual "leader of the free world".

Examples are plentiful. For example, given that Trump vows both to expand the fight against Daesh (which may imply more raids and detainees) and to broaden regulations that allow torture, together with his proposed ban on muslim inmigrants, one might wonder about the future of the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL, both in terms of its effectiveness to counter sectarian discourses and its membership (many countries may leave it).

Another example may be the future of free trade agreements given Trump's calls for greater economic protectionism: from TTP, which the next President will need to implement, to TTIP, whose negotiations are increasingly stalled. Even the 25-year old NAFTA may be in question given Trumps persistent calls to build a wall on the border with Mexico, only to have Mexico pay for it.

A further case may be Trump's "America first" foreign policy: disrespecting Belgium, critizizing NATO as obsolete and costly and seeing favourably nuclear proliferation in countries like Japan, South Korea or Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, It would be difficult to reach a negotiated agreement on any of those issues given Trump's "take it or leave it" approach to diplomacy.

So, it is increasingly harder to contunue imagining the United States as a true world leader under Trump. Once again, only the reigning perception of him from his harsh rethoric would made him unwelcome in many places from Latin America to the Middle East. How possibly could Donald Trump retain the agenda-setting power of US leadership Barack Obama recently boasted about?

So what should the European Union do in Case Trump is sworn into office on January 20 2017?  It seems clear that it would represent another burden for Brussels: it would be much harder to conclude TTIP, the UK would get preferential status even if it leaves the EU after the June 23 vote, NATO's deterrent factor would be greatly diminished and European members would have to increase their financial contributions (which must be said, is fair).

But the bigger picture may be that whether it likes it or not, the European Union may become the new "world leader" in a whole range of issues from which the US would simply detach or start been counterproductive, from Climate Change to the Middle East Peace Process. This would come just at a time in which the EU immersed in a perfect storm of crises. So, the question is whether an embattled EU could fulfill the role more effectively than a Trump administration, and what would it take for it to be that way.