WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has given And he takes it.
Angered by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s increasingly critical stance toward the US, Trump rescinded his invitation to join his board of peace. Many Western allies are suspicious of the organization, which is chaired by Trump and was originally formed to focus on maintaining a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas but has grown skeptic over fears it could rival the United Nations.
Appearing at the World Economic Forum, Trump talked about imposing tariffs on Switzerland – which he eventually reduced – because the country’s leader “rubbed me the wrong way” during a phone call. Before slapping sweeping tariffs on several European countries, Trump pressed Denmark to “say yes” to US pressure to take control of Greenland “and we will be very appreciative. Or you can say and we will remember,” he said, threatening the NATO alliance.
Over his decades in public life, Trump has never quite been one. But even by his standards, last week’s uproar stood out because it crystallized his determination to uproot the rules-based order that has governed American foreign policy — and by extension much of the Western world — since World War II.
The president and his supporters have dismissed that approach as inefficient, too focused on compromise and unresponsive to the needs of people struggling with rapid economic change. But instead, Trump is advancing a system that is poorly understood and may prove far less stable, driven by the will of a single, often paranoid, leader, who can regularly shape his decisions with personal flattery or animosity.
Returning to the US from Davos, home of the World Economic Forum, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, said she heard the phrase “we’re entering this new world order” “over and over” as she described a sense of confusion among allies.
“It could be that you just had a bad telephone call with the president and now he’s going to dictate tariffs to you,” she told reporters. “The lack of stability and credibility, I think, is what traditionally reliable trading partners say to other countries, ‘Hey, maybe you and I should talk because I’m not sure what’s going on with the United States.’
A Trump-centric approach to governance
A Trump-centric approach to governance is not surprising given that he accepted his first Republican presidential nomination in 2016, proclaiming that “I alone can solve” the nation’s problems. While settling into his second term with a more confident demeanor than his first, he has delighted supporters with his to-the-victor-goes-the-spoils style.
Steve Bannon, a former Trump adviser, recently told The Atlantic that Trump is pursuing a “maximum strategy” and should continue until he “meets resistance.”
“And we encountered no resistance,” Bannon said.
That’s certainly true in Washington, where the Republican-controlled Congress has done little to check Trump’s impulses. But leaders of other countries, who have spent much of Trump’s administration trying to find ways to work with him, are increasingly vocal.
Carney is quickly emerging as the leader of a movement for countries that are looking for ways to engage and counter the U.S. Speaking before Trump in Davos, Carney said, “Central powers have to work together because if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.”
“In a world of superpower rivalry, countries in the middle have a choice: compete with each other for favors or combine to form a third path with influence,” he continued. “We must not let the rise of hard powers blind us to the fact that legitimacy, integrity and the power of rules will remain strong – if we choose to use them together.”
Trump didn’t take kindly to those comments, before hitting the peace invitation board with threats in Davos.
“Canada lives because of the United States,” Trump said. “Remember that, Mark, next time you make your statement.”
Some leaders are retreating
Carney, however, relented, speaking of Canada as an “example for the world at sea” as he laid out a potential template for other world leaders navigating the new era.
“We can show that another way is possible, that the arc of history should not deviate towards authoritarianism and exclusion,” he said in a speech before a cabinet retreat in Quebec City.
In Britain, Prime Minister Keir Starr criticized Trump on Friday for “insulting and frankly frightening” comments in which he expressed doubt that NATO would support the US if requested. The president appeared to ignore Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty, which requires all member states to help other members in danger, following the 9/11 attacks on the US.
Regarding non-US troops, Trump told Fox Business Network, “You know, they sent some troops to Afghanistan, or this or that, and they did, they stayed a little bit back, a little bit away from the front lines.”
“Their courage, bravery and the sacrifice they made for their country will never be forgotten,” Starmer said, remembering the 457 British soldiers who lost their lives and suffered life-long injuries. Denmark, which Trump has slammed as “ungrateful” for American protection during World War II, had the highest per capita death toll among coalition forces in Afghanistan.
His strategy has raised fears that Trump is doing long-term damage to America’s standing in the world and is encouraging countries to rethink their alliances and deepen ties with China. Carney was there earlier this month to meet with President Xi Jinping.
“China’s leadership has seen the US president fighting with allies, insulting world leaders, and engaging in bizarre activities, and thinking to themselves – this is not good for us,” Jake Sullivan, national security adviser to former President Joe Biden, said in an email.
There is no sign of the administration backing down. In a social media post referring to Canada’s relationship with Beijing, Trump said China would “eat them up.” And the Pentagon released a defense strategy late Friday, telling allies to handle their own security.
Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, the Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, was in Davos and participated in a bipartisan delegation with Murkowski to Denmark aimed at showing unity amid Trump’s bid for Greenland. Recalling his conversations with other leaders, he told reporters on Friday that Trump has shown that countries like China “have shown that they are only backing down when they show toughness and flexibility.”
“Those who were accommodating and negotiated in good faith, such as the EU, which did not impose retaliatory tariffs, seem to have won no respect,” Coons said. “They can come to their own conclusions, but it sounds like they’re trying to find a way to accommodate him when the foundations of his demands about Greenland are shaky … I have to suggest a course of action.”
___
Associated Press writers Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska, Rob Gillies in Toronto and Pan Pylas in London contributed to this report.
