Now, von der Leyen has in a sense become the face of Europe, something Trump jokingly referenced last year at the White House after the US and Europe struck a trade deal. Welcoming leaders including Germany’s Friedrich Merz, France’s Emmanuel Macron and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, Trump then said of von der Leyen: “With all of those countries, I don’t know, I think you might be more powerful than all these guys at this table.”