Washington – If foreign leaders have learned something about the presidency of Donald Trump, they may be better as the enemy of the United States than their friend.
Until now, Trump has insulted Canada, played Hardball with Denmark about the future of Greenland, intimidated Colombia to repatriate undocumented immigrants in their terms and threatened to snatch from Panama, the homonymous channel that is a source of great national pride.
We are all allies or members of the United States to varying degrees. The website of the State Department is hail as a democratic “partner” who works with the US. UU. To “advance in common interests.”
The United States Embassy website in Colombia included reports that promote an anterarcotic strategy that the two nations had devised, or at least did it under the presidency of Joe Biden. Web pages are no longer available on the site.
Canada fought next to the United States in Afghanistan and fed and housed the passengers of the stranded airlines that could not land after the September 11 attacks. After slapping Canada with a 25%tariff, Trump wrote on Sunday that the northern American neighbor is supported by US subsidies at a certain extent that he cannot be maintained on his own. It should become state 51, he said on his social media platform.
Separately, Trump imposed a 25% rate to another ally and neighbor of the United States, Mexico, while ordering a 10% rate on imports of the most fierce global rival in the United States, China.
“He is going down much more in the smallest states with which the United States has very good relations,” said Leslie Vinjamuri, director of the US program and the America program in Chatham House, a research group based in headquarters London. “Colombia is a very strong partner of the United States in Latin America. Canada and Mexico are also close partners. They are not adversaries. He is balancing the bat when you don’t even need to do that. The United States already has the advantage. “
Taking a hard posture with the smallest nations, largely Pro -American, may seem like a low risk proposal for Trump. None wants to antagonize a superpower. Nor do they have nuclear missiles aimed at US cities.
But there are risks to Trump’s diplomacy brand, they say national security analysts and former officials. Nations can rethink their ties with the United States and embrace an anxious suitor with billions to spend: China.
A spokesman for the National Security Council did not immediately return a request for comments.
“Colombia is one of the two dozen countries with important strategic relations with the US He gave him anonymity to speak frankly. “This will show them that the United States is the type of partner who pulls this S —-. It will see Colombia saying yes and kissing Trump’s butt in his public messages, and then opening the door to the strategic competitors of We do not consider the United States to be reliable. “
As Trump’s defenders see it, Americans want a steel commander who does not allow the country to rise.
He promised nothing less than a “golden age” for Americans, and if he can expand the influence of the country worldwide, boost wealth and obtain more cooperation to harden borders, he could leave office with a consistent legacy.
“At some point you must demonstrate to your adversaries and your allies who give it for granted and take advantage of you that those days end, that the US superpower has returned and the sleeping giant has woken up,” said Richard Goldberg, who served in the Council National Security of the White House during Trump’s first mandate.
Vice President JD Vance published a message on Sunday X defending Trump’s actions.
“Desa me the story of Sob about how Canada is our ‘best friend’,” Vance wrote. “I love Canada and I have many Canadian friends. But, is the government with its objective of NATO for military spending? our country?
A disadvantage of that argument is that it can incur global resentment.
NBC News recently observed Panamanians who show national flags challenging the threat of seizing the channel.
In the last year of Biden’s mandate in office, the Pew Research Center reported that from 34 countries surveyed, a majority had a favorable vision of the USA. On the contrary, “throughout the presidency of Donald Trump Trump , the public around the world had the United States in low performance.
“Look, there is a problem with that [Trump’s] Focus, which is that it has a significant number of countries that have deepened and expanded their relations with China during the last decade and a half, “said Arturo Sarukhan, former Mexican ambassador to the United States” then, this type of doctrine of Frank Sinatra – My road or the road: it will launch many of these countries more deeply in China’s hug. “
The first signals suggest that China is looking to capitalize on any diplomatic crack.
An American source says that the Government of Panama had rejected the requests of Chinese officials to meet them. But after Trump threatened to take the channel again, Panama changed course and agreed to meet with the Chinese, said the person.
On January 26, a couple of hours after Trump threatened Colombia with tariff own message.
Zhu Jingyang wrote in Spanish that China and Colombia were enjoying “the best moment” in more than four decades of diplomatic relations.
“You have the Chinese ambassador trying to take advantage of the short term,” said Ryan Berg, director of the America program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in an interview.
By adopting a hard line posture, Trump could have been trying to point to other nations in addition to Colombia that did not snatch any dissent: leaders must withdraw compatriots who live in the United States illegally.
However, it is not clear that dust with Colombia was necessary. The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, had opposed the Trump administration to send people to military aircraft, saying that they should not be treated as criminals.
Petro finally yielded, avoiding what could have been a ruinous commercial war with the United States
But under the Biden administration, the United States was already returning Colombians to their country of origin, said the former Biden National Security official.
“Our administration caused Colombians to take between 100 and 200 repatriation flights from Colombians to Colombia,” said the person. “That is not something new. We did it again and again. The different thing is that Trump wanted to do this with military flights. Colombia initially said no to that. Now they will take the flights. In terms of limiting migration, no matter if flights are military or civil. “
Senator Chris Murphy, D., Connecticut, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said the dispute with Colombia was “a false drama day.”
“The media acted as if Colombia had capitulated. It wasn’t, “Murphy added.” There were three flights per week before dust and there are three flights per week, “he said.” He [Trump] He created good headlines for himself without changing anything. “
