BONUS: America's Shifting Alliances
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How has President Trump changed America's global alliances?
President Trump has shaken up America's global alliances with policy reversals and moves toward realignments that are being felt around the world. I'm not aligned with anybody.
I'm aligned with the United States of America and for the good of the world.
So how are other world leaders as well as thought leaders making sense of these big changes? I'm Michelle Martin, and this is a special bonus episode of Up First from NPR News. A major shock has been President Trump's tilt toward Russia and its war on Ukraine.
First of all, he's not an isolationist. He's an ardent nationalist and much more comfortable with autocratic leaders than with leaders of liberal democracies.
What does that mean for future relations between the U.S. and its Democratic allies? It has so many implications that they're almost hard to think through. Stay with us. We've got news you need to make sense of it in this special bonus episode of Up First from NPR News. After years of U.S.
What is President Trump's relationship with Russia?
policies aimed at isolating Russia, the Trump administration is working with Russia to try to make a deal to end the war. Critics say Trump is appeasing Putin, even that Trump has forged a new alliance with Putin. During a heated meeting in the White House with Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump says that's not true.
I'm not aligned with Putin. I'm not aligned with anybody. I'm aligned with the United States of America and for the good of the world.
Europeans and others are worried because what happens in Ukraine could have broader implications. So what do the shifting alliances mean for America and its role in the world?
Why are shifting alliances concerning for Europe?
Trump is saying, I don't care anymore about alliances. I'm not interested in your opinions. I'm going to do a deal with this dictator over your head.
That's Anne Applebaum, a staff writer for The Atlantic, talking about Trump's recent posturing towards Russia. She says Russia is a threat not only to Ukraine, but also to Europe.
And that's a message that is heard not just in every European capital, but in every allied capital around the planet as a sign that the U.S. is changing.
How do experts perceive Trump's foreign policy stance?
My co-host Leila Fadl spoke with her about the significance of the shift.
Okay, so if the U.S. says, I don't care about alliances anymore, what does that mean for U.S. and global stability?
It has so many implications that they're almost hard to think through. There are economic implications. You know, what happens to our trade relationships with Europe and with Asia? What about the U.S. companies that have enjoyed special favor in those markets? You know, U.S. defense companies, but also U.S. nuclear power companies, other kinds of big utility companies that have been welcomed by those countries because as a way of expressing their fealty to the United States. What happens to a series of trade agreements that have created easy and regular trade between all around the world? What happens to All kinds of treaties on, not just treaties on commerce, but treaties on the laws of war.
All these things that have governed U.S. behavior and allied behavior all over the world for 80 years now disappear.
We also heard from Stephen Walt, a foreign policy expert at Harvard. He's concerned about the kinds of world leaders Trump seems comfortable with.
First of all, he's not an isolationist. He's an ardent nationalist and much more comfortable with autocratic leaders than with leaders of liberal democracies. It's Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Viktor Orban in Hungary, Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia.
What does Stephen Walt suggest about U.S. and Europe relations?
And I think in Trump's mind, a perfect world would be one where powerful leaders can get together and cut deals and then impose them on others without paying too much attention to the rule of law.
Like Applebaum, Walt is concerned that this positioning should shake up how Democratic allies view the U.S.
If the United States is no longer a reliable ally, if it actually seems to be hostile to liberal democracy in Europe, then I think we're going to find that the countries we've been counting on in the past to support us on many international initiatives are going to be much less willing to do so.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
How has President Trump changed America's global alliances?
0:02–1:05
2
What is President Trump's relationship with Russia?
1:05–1:38
3
Why are shifting alliances concerning for Europe?
1:38–2:04
4
How do experts perceive Trump's foreign policy stance?
2:04–3:28
5
What does Stephen Walt suggest about U.S. and Europe relations?
3:28–6:00
6
Has President Trump upended the world order?
6:00–11:37
Speakers
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