My Way or the Highway

 

Appearing at the World Economic Forum, Trump spoke of imposing tariffs on Switzerland — which he ultimately lowered — because the country’s leader “rubbed me the wrong way” during a phone call. Before shelving sweeping tariffs on multiple European countries, Trump pressed Denmark to “say yes” to the U.S. push to control Greenland “and we will be very appreciative. Or you can say no and we will remember,” he said, imperiling the NATO alliance. Over his decades in public life, Trump has never been one for niceties. But even by his standards, the tumult of the past week stood out because it crystallized his determination to erase the rules-based order that has governed U.S. foreign policy — and by extension most of the Western world — since World War II. The president and his supporters have dismissed that approach as inefficient, overly focused on compromise and unresponsive to the needs of people contending with rapid economic change. But in its place, Trump is advancing a system that is poorly understood and could prove far less stable, driven by the whims of a single, often mercurial, leader who regularly demonstrates that personal flattery or animus can shape his decisions. The Trump-centric approach to governing is hardly surprising for someone who accepted his first Republican presidential nomination in 2016 by declaring that “I alone can fix” the nation’s problems. As he settles into his second term with a far more confident demeanor than his first, he has delighted supporters with his to-the-victor -goes-the-spoils style. Steve Bannon, Trump’s former adviser, recently told the Atlantic that Trump is pursuing a “maximalist strategy” and that he must keep going “until you meet resistance.” “And we haven’t met any 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 a leader of a movement for countries to find ways to link up and counter the U.S. Speaking in Davos ahead of Trump, Carney said, “Middle powers must act together because if you are not at the table, you are on the menu.” “In a world of great power rivalry, the countries in between have a choice: to compete with each other for favor or to combine to create a third path with impact,” he continued. “We should not allow the rise of hard powers to blind us to the fact that the power of legitimacy, integrity, and rules will remain strong — if we choose to wield it together.” Trump did not take kindly to those remarks, responding with threats in Davos before yanking the Board of Peace invitation. “Canada lives because of the United States,” Trump said. “Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.” Some leaders are pushing back Carney, however, was unbowed, speaking of Canada as “an example to a world at sea” as he crafted a potential template for other world leaders navigating a new era. “We can show that another way is possible, that the arc of history isn’t destined to be warped toward authoritarianism and exclusion,” he said in a speech before a cabinet retreat in Quebec City. In the UK, Prime Minister Keir Starmer blasted Trump on Friday for “insulting and frankly appalling” comments in which he expressed doubt that NATO would support the U.S. if requested. The president seemingly ignored that the only time Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty, which requires all member countries to help another member under threat, was invoked was after the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. Referring to non-US troops, Trump told Fox Business Network, “You know, they’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan, or this or that, and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.” Starmer, noting the 457 British personnel who died and those with life-long injuries, said he will “never forget their courage, their bravery and the sacrifice they made for their country.” Denmark, which Trump has belittled as “ungrateful” for U.S. protection during World War II, had the highest per capita death toll among coalition forces in Afghanistan. His tactics have raised fears that Trump is imposing long-term damage on the U.S. standing in the world and encouraging countries to rethink their alliances. create an editorial cartoon to go with this article