Donald Trump and some of his political allies appear enraged that NATO is not stepping in to reopen the Strait of Hormuz – which was open before Trump launched a war against Iran – and the U.S. President is once again threatening to withdraw the U.S. from NATO, as reported by the Telegraph:
“Donald Trump has told The Telegraph he is strongly considering pulling the United States out of Nato after it failed to join his war on Iran.
In an exclusive interview, the US president labelled the alliance a “paper tiger” and said removing America from the defence treaty was now “beyond reconsideration”.
Mr Trump has raised the issue in private discussions with White House aides in recent days, and on Wednesday confirmed that he was “absolutely” reviewing membership.”
As is nearly always the case with Trump, he is wrong on the facts. NATO is a defence alliance, so NATO ‘joining’ an attack on Iran would be illogical. That doesn’t stop individual members of NATO from joining the war on their own, nor does it stop the formation of some other form of coalition. Trump also forgets that the only time Article V of NATO has been invoked was to defend the United States after the 9/11 terror attacks. That was a legitimate use of NATO, given that the U.S. was the victim of an unprovoked attack and that helping the U.S. strike back was a defensive action.
Trump has forgotten something else as well, and it makes his anger over ‘NATO not getting involved’ delusional. Over the past year, Trump has insulted the sacrifice of NATO troops in Afghanistan (158 Canadian military personnel died in the Afghanistan mission), stopped paying for military aid for Ukraine, thus indirectly aiding Russia (the core of the old Soviet Union – the country NATO was built to defend against) and threatened to invade the territory of a NATO ally. Trump has also repeatedly pressured Ukraine instead of Russia, and has falsely blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the war rather than blaming the individual who started it – Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Further, Trump has imposed punitive tariffs on U.S. allies, and his recklessness and instability mean any deal signed with him means nothing. U.S. allies cannot trust U.S. leadership because Trump has proven himself to be untrustworthy. Every NATO country has reached the 2% defence spending target, but again, that now means nothing to Trump since his attention has shifted elsewhere.
Also, notice how Trump offers nothing in return for the help he demands. Is he offering tariff relief to NATO members if they put their people at risk in Iran? Is he offering discounts on U.S. military equipment? Is he offering to increase aid to Ukraine if NATO helps in Iran?
Of course not.
Trump isn’t even a truly transactional ‘leader’, as a transactional leader would recognize that sometimes the transaction has to include benefits for the other side. Instead, Trump is an extractive leader who seeks to drain wealth and influence from countries that once trusted the U.S., while offering no additional benefits to those countries. In fact, Trump often offers ‘more punishment’ or ‘less punishment’ when making demands of others, with no possibility that the other side in a negotiation will be better off in some way.
Destroying trust has a cost
Over the past 80 years, the U.S. has painstakingly built up a network of alliances and trading partners, and during that time, the U.S. has become the most powerful and influential country in the world. Now, Trump is destroying that source of U.S. power and influence, as he expects his short-term emotional whims to dictate the foreign policy of NATO countries, and expects to be able to act in Russia’s interests, insult NATO allies, and threaten NATO countries without any foreign policy consequences. That’s the height of delusion. Trump has done nothing to earn the help he now demands.
Spencer Fernando
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