When a new US president takes office, his first order of business is usually to reassure America’s allies and warn its enemies. However, Donald Trump is doing things differently. It seems his goal is to strike fear into the heart not of America’s foes, but rather its friends.
American presidents have traditionally seen the country’s network of allies as a “force multiplier” – something that magnifies American power and applies it more effectively. A broad range of allies means trading partners, military bases and diplomatic support in international institutions. According to this line of reasoning, it is in America’s own interests to defend and support its allies – the benefits outweigh the cost.
Trump, by contrast, views allies both as competitors and burdens. He thinks they are too reliant on American military power to defend themselves, and that their economic relationship with the US makes them rich at the expense of American workers. He wants US allies, particularly in Europe, to spend more of their own money on defence and to buy more goods from the US.
He also seems even more willing than in his first term to deploy America’s formidable tools of coercion to make this happen. His widespread threats of tariffs, for instance, are designed to force countries to go along with his wishes, including in non-economic aspects of the relationship. He is also threatening to use economic and military force in alarming ways, such as to seize control of Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal.
The result is a world in which American allies can no longer rely on the US to be a reliable partner. They may increasingly have to fend for themselves against not just their traditional foes, but also a predatory Washington.
An aircraft carrying Donald Trump’s son, Don Jr, arrives at an airport in Nuuk, Greenland, on January 7.
Emil Stach / EPA
Although all US allies are concerned about this turn of events, some are more surprised than others. The biggest shock has come in Europe, which has long occupied a privileged place in America’s strategic thinking.
Europeans knew that a second Trump term was going to be rough. On the campaign trail, for example, he vowed across-the-board tariffs of up to 20%. But they didn’t expect Trump to threaten the territory of Nato members Canada and Denmark, which owns Greenland.
As a result, Europeans’ view of the US has shifted since Trump returned to the White House. According to the results of a recent survey by the European Council on Foreign Relations, the majority of people in Europe no longer see the US as an ally that shares the same interests and values, instead agreeing that it is only a “necessary partner”.
For other US allies and partners, particularly in the global south, this shift is less surprising. Panama owes its existence to an act of US imperialism. The US sent military forces to assist the country in seceding from Colombia in 1903,