European anxiety deepens over 'disruptive' Trump presidency

"The Europeans are in a state of shock," said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, who was in Washington last week with Perthes to discuss a Trump presidency with US officials.

"If Trump were to support Marine Le Pen like he supported Farage that would be a revolutionary event in transatlantic relations," he said. "If you're supporting someone who wants to destroy the euro, the EU and the western liberal order and who is a friend of Russia, then you're not just setting back transatlantic relations, you're destroying them."