“Demands to hand over Greenland have caused long-term damage to US alliances, experts say.”, — write: www.unian.ua
Demands to hand over Greenland have caused long-term damage to US alliances, experts say.
Sudden statements and unexpected changes risk irreparable damage to relations with key US allies / photo Getty ImagesUS foreign policy since the beginning of Donald Trump’s second term has often changed dramatically on a number of issues and has been formulated without the involvement of national security officials. Instead, the actions of the administration of the US president were dictated solely by Trump and a small group of his closest aides.
As Reuters writes, in many ways this approach works in Trump’s favor, given his suspicious attitude toward the Washington bureaucracy and his desire to quickly implement his decisions. But the sudden announcements and the unexpected changes that come from it risk irreparable damage to relations with key US allies.
Military actionsThe dangers of such a centralized — and personalized — approach have become apparent in the past few weeks, as Trump and his administration officials have repeatedly hinted at the possibility of using force in Greenland in interviews and on social media. These comments sowed alarm in Washington and among US allies.
“Lawmakers have called Secretary of State Marco Rubio and senior White House officials to express their concerns and advise the administration not to take further steps, one of the sources said. Some Republican lawmakers have also told administration officials they fear a possible impeachment inquiry into any military invasion of Greenland,” Reuters writes.
And while military action was never seriously considered, according to two sources close to the administration, Cory Shaik, a former Pentagon and White House staffer at the American Enterprise Institute, said Trump’s threat to seize Greenland by force has already been delivered:
“Trump has been so inconsistent in his threats that there is no guarantee he won’t do it again. He has made the United States untrustworthy in the eyes of our closest friends.”
Centralized solutionsTrump’s practice of centralizing foreign policy decisions, relying on trusted aides, and effectively removing experts has been a constant theme of his second term.
This happened several times during the negotiations on ending Russia’s war in Ukraine. In particular, as a result of meetings between Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, his son-in-law Jared Kushner and Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, a 28-point plan to end the war was developed in the fall.
Meanwhile, many high-ranking US officials at the State Department and the National Security Council, who would normally have been kept abreast of the development of such a plan, were not briefed on the process, the sources said.
A State Department official said: “There is an atmosphere of close cooperation in President Trump’s administration, and there are dedicated public servants who are conscientiously advancing key priorities. And there are anonymous sources who complain to the press and clearly lack the common sense or character necessary to carry out President Trump’s agenda.”
Trump’s policyEarlier, Trump threatened to impose a 100% tariff on all of Canada’s exports to the United States if it signed a trade agreement with China. This decision has already been criticized in the Senate.
Trump caused a wave of indignation in Great Britain with the statement that allegedly British troops remained “behind the front line” in Afghanistan. This sparked outrage from Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other political leaders, including King Charles III, whose son Prince Harry served on the front lines as a helicopter pilot and lost friends in combat. Days later, the White House leader reversed his stance over the weekend and praised the British soldiers who fought there under US leadership.
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