Offended by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s speech more and more assertive stance toward the United States, Trump revoked an invitation to join its Peace Council. Many Western allies are wary of the organization, which is chaired by Trump and was initially created to focus on maintaining the ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas, but has grown into an organization that skeptics say could rival the United Nations.
During his appearance at the World Economic Forum, Trump talked about imposing tariffs on Switzerland — which he ultimately lowered — because the country’s leader “roughed me up” in a phone call. Before set aside customs tariffs Regarding several European countries, Trump pressed Denmark to “say yes” to US efforts to control Greenland “and we will be very grateful. Or you can say no and we will remember,” he said, putting the NATO alliance in jeopardy.
In his decades of public life, Trump has never been one for subtlety. But even by his standards, last week’s uproar stood out because it crystallized his determination to erase the rules-based order that has governed American foreign policy — and by extension most of the Western world — since World War II.
The president and his supporters have rejected the approach as ineffective, too focused on compromise and insensitive to the needs of people facing rapid economic change. But in its place, Trump proposes a system that is poorly understood and may prove far less stable, run by the whims of a single, often changing leader who regularly demonstrates that personal flattery or animosity can influence his decisions.
Returning to the United States from Davos, headquarters of the World Economic Forum, Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said the phrase she heard “over and over again” was that “we are entering into this new world order,” describing a sense of confusion among allies.
“It could be that you just had a bad phone call with the president and now you’re going to have tariffs imposed on you,” she told reporters. “This lack of stability and reliability, I think, leads to traditionally reliable trading partners saying to other countries, ‘Hey, maybe you and I should talk because I’m not sure what’s going on with the United States.’ »
The Trump-centric approach to governing
The Trump-centric approach to governing is hardly surprising for someone who accepted his first Republican nomination for president in 2016 by declaring that “only I can solve” the nation’s problems. As he enters his second term with a much more confident attitude than his first, he has delighted his supporters with his “go to the winner and the spoils” style.
Steve Bannon, a former Trump advisor, recently said the Atlantic that Trump is pursuing a “maximalist strategy” and that he must continue “until he encounters resistance.”
“And we encountered no resistance,” Bannon said.
That’s certainly true in Washington, where the Republican-controlled Congress has done little to curb Trump’s impulses. But leaders of other countries, who have spent much of the Trump administration trying to find ways to work with him, are becoming increasingly vocal.
Carney is quickly emerging as the leader of a movement to inspire countries to find ways to unite and counter the United States. Speaking in Davos before Trump, Carney said: “Middle powers need to act together because if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu. »
“In a world of great power rivalry, middle countries have a choice: compete with each other for favor or come together to create an impactful third way,” he continued. “We should not let the rise of hard powers blind us to the fact that the power of legitimacy, integrity and rules will remain strong – if we choose to exercise it together. »
Trump did not take kindly to these remarks, responding with threats in Davos before withdrawing the Peace Council invitation.
“Canada lives on because of the United States,” Trump said. “Remember this, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”
Some leaders resist
Carney, however, is unconvinced, speaking of Canada as an “example for a world at sea” as he develops a potential model for other world leaders navigating a new era.
“We can show that another path is possible, that the arc of history is not destined to distort toward authoritarianism and exclusion,” he said in a speech before a cabinet retreat in Quebec.
In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Keir Starmer damn trump Friday for “insulting and frankly appalling” comments in which he expressed doubt that NATO would support the United States if asked. The president apparently ignored that the one time Article 5 of the founding treaty of NATOwhich requires all member countries to assist another member under threat, was invoked after the September 11 attacks on the United States.
Referring to non-US troops, Trump said Fox Business Network: “You know, they’ll say they sent troops to Afghanistan, or this or that, and they did, they stayed a little behind, a little behind the front lines. »
Starmer, referring to the 457 British soldiers who died and those who suffered lifelong injuries, said he “will never forget their courage, their bravery and the sacrifice they made for their country.” Denmark, which Trump called “ungrateful” for U.S. protection during World War II, had the highest number of deaths per capita among coalition forces in Afghanistan.
His tactics have raised fears that Trump will impose long-term damage on the United States’ standing in the world and encourage countries to rethink their alliances and deepen ties with China. Carney already traveled there earlier this month to meet with President Xi Jinping.
“Chinese leaders saw an American president fighting with his allies, insulting world leaders and engaging in bizarre antics, and said to themselves: This is only good for us,” said Jake Sullivan, a former president. That of Joe Biden national security adviser, said in an email.
The administration shows no signs of backing down. In a social media post referencing Canada’s ties to Beijing, Trump said China would “eat them up.” And the Pentagon published a defense strategy Friday evening asking its allies to manage their own security.
The senator Chris Coons of Delaware, a Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, was in Davos and participated in a bipartisan delegation to Denmark with Murkowski that aimed to show unity in the face of Trump’s Greenland bid. Recalling his conversations with other leaders, he told reporters Friday that Trump had shown he only backed down when countries like China “showed tenacity and resilience.”
“Those who have been accommodating and negotiated in good faith, like the EU, which has not imposed retaliatory tariffs, do not appear to have earned his respect,” Coons said. “They can draw their own conclusions, but it seems to me that trying to find a way to accommodate him when the basis for his demands on Greenland is unbalanced… seems to me to suggest a course of action.”
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Associated Press writers Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska, Rob Gillies in Toronto and Pan Pylas in London contributed to this report.
