Even more distressing, the damage isn’ t just confined to tech. It’ s hitting the very heart of the Western alliance system— which we largely created— that has kept relative peace since World War II. It’ s been Vladimir Putin’ s goal for decades, and now he’ s getting exactly what he wants from Donald Trump.
When Trump said he would“ encourage” Russia to attack NATO allies that, he claimed, weren’ t“ paying up,” European leaders didn’ t shrug it off as a joke. European Council President Charles Michel called the comments“ reckless,” correctly saying that such statements“ serve only Putin’ s interest” and undermine the core promise of mutual defense. Of course, serving Putin’ s— rather than America’ s— interests is exactly what Trump has been doing for a decade now.
Even NATO’ s SecretaryGeneral felt compelled, once again, to publicly restate that Article 5— the pledge that an attack on one is an attack on all— remains“ ironclad,” slapping down the President of the United States.
As Senator Adam Schiff said in response to Trump threatening to unleash Putin on Europe:
“ He’ s more interested in aggrandizing himself and pleasing Putin than protecting our allies. It would be enough to make Reagan ill.”
Shiff’ s sentiments were echoed by Charles Michel, the president of the European Council:
“ Reckless statements on # NATO’ s security and Art 5 solidarity serve only Putin’ s interest. They do not bring more security or peace to the world. On the contrary, they reemphasise the need for the # EU to urgently further develop its strategic autonomy and invest in its defence.”
So, here we are: the head of NATO and the head of the European Council reduced to reassuring the world that America’ s president doesn’ t speak for the alliance when he invites Russia to attack its members. Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland, couldn’ t have come up with something more bizarre.
European security analysts now talk openly about“ low trust” and“ ruptures and new realities” in their relations with the United States. One EU security study notes that Trump has shown“ elements of active hostility against the European project,” highlighting his bizarre, paranoid claim that the EU was set up to“ screw” the US, as well as his refusal to rule out the use of force to annex Greenland.
And now Trump has his emissary visiting rightwing and neo-Nazi parties and think tanks in Europe, offering them American cash and support. He and Putin appear totally committed to making the world safe for dictators and oligarchs by damaging the democracies of the world.
America’ s and democracy’ s enemies, of course, are thrilled. As one European thinktank piece put it bluntly, Trump’ s rhetoric is“ a gift to Putin.” When the president of the United States
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Canadians now see the US as a“ negative global force,” driven largely by Trump’ s erratic behavior and his obsession with self-enrichment, having already collected an estimated $ 4 billion for himself and his family since he was sworn to office.
trashes NATO, praises autocrats, and undermines the EU while half of Ukraine is being tormented by brutal cold, the man in the Kremlin doesn’ t have to spend a ruble to fracture the West. Trump, like a dutiful dog, is doing it for him.
And this isn’ t just elite handwringing at the level of governments and ministers; ordinary Europeans are recalibrating their relationship with America, too. Surveys over the past year show European opinions of the United States dropping sharply, a reality we also see in the collapse of European vacationers to the United States.
One EU institute reports that nearly threequarters of Europeans now see the United States as a“ somewhat or very unreliable” partner now, with average Germans among the most skeptical.
A broader survey across Britain, France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, and Italy found U. S. favorability down, sometimes by double digits, with only about one-in-ten respondents expressing real trust in Trump’ s America to defend them.
Another poll summarized by Politico found that even a majority of Canadians now see the US as a“ negative global force,” driven largely by Trump’ s erratic behavior and his obsession with self-enrichment, having already collected an estimated $ 4 billion for himself and his family since he was sworn to office.
Put simply, our allies are doing what any rational nation would do when a key partner goes rogue: they’ re hedging.
They’ re hedging by building their own tech infrastructure, so that Trump can’ t flip a switch and cut off vital services or demand back-doors into their communications systems or share information with Putin. So Trump can’ t hand them over to Putin the way he is Ukraine. They’ re hedging by embracing“ strategic autonomy,” aka European defense capabilities that don’ t rely on Washington or anybody in America.
Meanwhile, here at home, Trump and his lickspittle Republicans are busily transforming America into exactly the kind of oligarchic, strongman system our grandparents fought World War II to stop.
He’ s pardoned insurrectionists, is purging institutions and installing loyalists, and covering up the child-rape crimes of his billionaire friends, all while aligning himself— and, thus, America— with oligarchs and dictators abroad.
When you combine that internal authoritarian drift with external contempt for allies and admiration for Putin, you get the worst of all worlds: a United States that can no longer credibly lead democratic nations and may increasingly act as a spoiler on behalf of strongmen, grifters, and oligarchs worldwide. And, of course, on behalf of Putin.
Trump promised to“ make America great again.” Instead, he’ s teaching the rest of the free world that they need to live without us. All to our and our children’ s detriment.