What To Know: In most of Europe, President Trump is not a popular man. His threats against Greenland and break from the typically cordial tone have European institutions racing to replace all things American. Here’s a taste of what’s underway:

1. Defense: European governments have long depended on the might of the U.S. military. And I mean depend! We’re talking reliance on arms, cloud technology, U.S. satellite intelligence, long-range precision weapons… even nuclear deterrent tech. A simple software update relies on U.S. participation. With a less certain U.S.-alliance under NATO along with Russian aggression, the EU wants to protect itself. So it’s investing 800 billion euros in defense. That will mean building up its own defense firms and supply chains right at home.
2. Tech: As Germany tries to move on from Microsoft Office, a French startup is offering an alternative to American AI software. Mistral isn’t making its sale on raw AI performance. Its pitch leans on data sovereignty. With indications of limited AI regulation in the U.S., European entities are looking to safer alternatives. Despite its limited performance, Mistral already has deals with HSBC, Tesco (the British grocery chain), and several European governments (Greece, Luxembourg, France). 
3. Finance: Fareed Zakaria laid it out thoroughly: France has moved its gold reserves from New York City to Paris. European institutions are looking to move away from PayPal. And the European Payments Initiative is working to build an alternative to Visa and Mastercard.

Why We Care: A shift in the economic world order is underway which could have significant repercussions for U.S. economic and political power. It’s happening in energy as well. Last week, we pondered whether the petrodollar is also in the rearview mirror.

What To Know: Almost half of all U.S. data centers planned for this year are delayed or canceled. Jeff Guo, Planet Money co-host and essayist extraordinaire of our internal Slack channels, broke down how the main bottleneck here is electrical equipment, notably transformers. There is literally a waitlist of 2 to 4 years to get these things. And believe it or not, there’s a bottleneck for making transformers TOO which involves a specific type of steel called grain-oriented electrical steel. And yes, there is also a shortage for that kind of steel.

Why We Care: Just this week, Indicator co-host Adrian Ma explained how chokepoints can be a tool for economic warfare. Think how Iran has used the Strait of Hormuz, or how the U.S. leverages the power of the dollar when sanctioning other countries. What’s interesting here: the chokepoint for the U.S. is… itself. There is a U.S. company that makes the kind of steel needed for transformers. But it’s not able to meet domestic demand.