Trump pushes allies away, embraces US adversaries
WASHINGTON (AP) — With enemies like these, who needs friends?
Stepping onto the world stage for a pair of high-profile summits, President Donald Trump is scrambling the usual breakdown of allies and adversaries. In the span of a few days, he’s embraced Russia and North Korea while pushing away America’s closest friends, like France, Canada and Germany.
It’s long been Trump’s modus operandi to keep people on their toes, unable to predict what he’ll do next. But the impulse to pick fights with countries the United States relies on for solidarity around the world is striking many as a step too far.
Joel Rubin, a deputy assistant secretary of state in the Obama administration, said the dual moves were “completely antithetical” to America’s foreign policy objectives. He predicted it would inflict major damage to U.S. standing in the world.
“If Obama had done that, the criticism coming down on him would have been a fusillade, coming from Capitol Hill and congressional Republicans,” said Rubin, who now teaches at Carnegie Mellon University. “But there’s nary a whimper.”
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