Trump is a bigger threat to NATO than Putin, says former alliance commander

Donald Trump represents a bigger threat to NATO than Vladimir Putin, one of the alliance’s former commanders has said in a blistering attack on Washington’s foreign policy.

The US president’s warning comes after a series of aggressive moves this year, including Nicolás Maduro’s takeover of Venezuela, threats to invade Greenland and controversial claims that European troops were “not on the front lines” in Afghanistan.

General Sir Richard Shirreff, NATO’s former deputy supreme ally commander for Europe, said Trump’s threat of military intervention in Greenland was “not at all vague” despite the US president vowing not to use force to seize the island, which is part of NATO member Denmark.

“We have to take him literally. We have to assume with Trump, as with Putin, that the worst will happen,” he said. independent “Trump is the biggest threat [to Nato] If you want to compare. It is Trump who will receive this award.”

Shirreff, who is currently chairman of the Helix International Security and Risk Advisory Board, said Trump had ‘destroyed the international order’ in the first year of his second term. “He is also on the way to destroying the one alliance that has guaranteed transatlantic security for 77 years,” he added.

The former British army officer said Trump had presented Putin with two of his most cherished foreign policy objectives “on a plate”.

“He has isolated the US from European security and he is effectively holding Nato below the water line because of his threats.”

Shirreff said that, while Putin remains an “existential threat” to Europe, his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 had united NATO and “brought the international order closer”.

Trump, meanwhile, has “turned the global rules-based system into a dead duck”, he added. “Obviously Putin threatened it broadly, but Trump has attacked an alliance that provides our security.”

In the US, Trump has been derided for what critics call a “TACO” approach to policy — meaning Trump is always chickening out. He has recently threatened military intervention in both Greenland and Iran – before backing down and seeking a diplomatic solution.

But Shirreff said mere threats, especially to Greenland, are enough to seriously damage Washington’s alliance in NATO.

“The nation that leads the coalition threatens the territorial integrity of another member of the coalition… How do you move forward and rebuild trust? Nobody trusts Trump again, and we have three more years of this.”

In response to the instability, Shirreff advised NATO to “Europeanize” and specifically seek strategic and military independence from the US for the remainder of Trump’s term.

Other experts disagree with Shirreff’s conclusions about which leader poses a greater threat to NATO.

John B. Alterman, chairman of global security and geostrategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, agreed that Putin’s war has had a “unifying effect” on NATO, but argued that Trump is “open to persuasion” by NATO allies.

He said Trump’s foreign policy and attacks on NATO reflect concerns among many Americans about America’s role abroad. Earlier this month, Trump claimed to have “saved NATO” in a post on Truth Social.

“It’s an old American complaint,” Alterman said independent. “European states are now looking at alternative arrangements and these conversations were not happening at all a year ago. The international order needs to rethink its response, it has become too one-sided for some.”

Gabriel A. Gimenez Roche, an associate professor of economics and finance at Neoma Business School, said unpopularity in the election could serve as a check on Trump’s authoritarian global ambitions.

“Trump’s confrontational stance toward Europe lacks strong support among American voters,” he says. “Polls consistently show skepticism toward allies, annexation rhetoric, and escalating trade conflicts—sentiments that could impact election results.”

But Putin may benefit from uncertainty by default. “If neither European firms nor American voters benefit, the answer is troubling. The primary beneficiary appears to be Vladimir Putin, whose strategic interests are served by a distracted US, a divided transatlantic relationship, and a Europe forced to reassess its dependence on Washington.”

A White House spokesman said independent: “President Trump has done more for NATO than anyone else. America’s contribution to NATO dwarfs that of other countries, and his success in securing a 5 percent spending commitment from NATO allies is helping Europe take greater responsibility for its own defense.

“The United States is the only NATO partner that can defend Greenland, and the president is advancing the NATO interest in doing so.”