Axios: Trump torches allies

Trump torches allies
 
Photo illustration of President Donald Trump walking on an elongated stripe of the American flag
Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
 
President Trump has a new rule for America’s partners: Cross him in one theater, and the consequences will follow you into the next, Axios’ Zachary Basu writes.

Why it matters: Trump has spent his second term battering U.S. allieshumiliating their leaders, and using decades-old security relationships to settle personal and political scores.

The Iran war has only deepened those impulses: Trump is growing angrier at allies that stayed out of the conflict — and punishing them as he struggles to end it.

🔎 Zoom in: South Korea — recently hailed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as a “model ally” — is the latest and most surprising casualty in Trump’s retribution campaign.

On Sunday, Trump ordered the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” an annual military exercise, citing the cost and his “very good relationship” with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.

Trump noted in his Truth Social announcement that he “recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, ‘No thanks!'”

For years, Europe has borne the brunt of Trump’s assault on American alliances. As the Iran war has widened those transatlantic fractures, his pressure campaign has become more systematic.

Bloomberg reports the Pentagon sent NATO allies a survey probing their loyalty to Trump’s foreign policy as it weighs where to keep — or withdraw — U.S. troops.

Between the lines: Allies that departed from that submissive posture have already paid a price.

The Pentagon moved in May to withdraw roughly 5,000 troops from Germany after Chancellor Friedrich Merz publicly savaged Trump’s Iran strategy.

Trump threatened to cut off all trade with Spain after Madrid denied U.S. base access for strikes on Iran.

Even Oman — the key intermediary trying to broker a Hormuz deal — is now in Trump’s crosshairs. He threatened yesterday to “bomb the sh*t out of” the longtime U.S. partner if it “gets in the way” of an agreement with Iran.

🔭 Zoom out: The same war fueling Trump’s fury at U.S. allies is also exposing the limits of American hard power.

The 60-day deadline Trump and Iran set for a final peace deal expired yesterday with no agreement — and the two sides further apart than when they signed their June 
memorandum of understanding.

The Strait of Hormuz remains a stubborn monument to that impasse after months of U.S. military and economic pressure.

The Navy is pulling the USS George Washington from the western Pacific to relieve the long-deployed USS Abraham Lincoln, temporarily leaving Asia without a U.S. carrier.

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About michelleclarke2015

Life event that changes all: Horse riding accident in Zimbabwe in 1993, a fractured skull et al including bipolar anxiety, chronic fatigue …. co-morbidities (Nietzche 'He who has the reason why can deal with any how' details my health history from 1993 to date). 17th 2017 August operation for breast cancer (no indications just an appointment came from BreastCheck through the Post). Trinity College Dublin Business Economics and Social Studies (but no degree) 1997-2003; UCD 1997/1998 night classes) essays, projects, writings. Trinity Horizon Programme 1997/98 (Centre for Women Studies Trinity College Dublin/St. Patrick's Foundation (Professor McKeon) EU Horizon funded: research study of 15 women (I was one of this group and it became the cornerstone of my journey to now 2017) over 9 mth period diagnosed with depression and their reintegration into society, with special emphasis on work, arts, further education; Notes from time at Trinity Horizon Project 1997/98; Articles written for Irishhealth.com 2003/2004; St Patricks Foundation monthly lecture notes for a specific period in time; Selection of Poetry including poems written by people I know; Quotations 1998-2017; other writings mainly with theme of social justice under the heading Citizen Journalism Ireland. Letters written to friends about life in Zimbabwe; Family history including Michael Comyn KC, my grandfather, my grandmother's family, the O'Donnellan ffrench Blake-Forsters; Moral wrong: An acrimonious divorce but the real injustice was the Catholic Church granting an annulment – you can read it and make your own judgment, I have mine. Topics I have written about include annual Brain Awareness week, Mashonaland Irish Associataion in Zimbabwe, Suicide (a life sentence to those left behind); Nostalgia: Tara Hill, Co. Meath.
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