\u201cOur strength as a nation is inextricably linked to the strength of our unique and comprehensive system of alliances \u2026 We cannot protect our interests effectively without maintaining strong alliances and showing respect to those allies.\u201d<\/p>\n
So wrote<\/a> Gen. James Mattis, Donald Trump\u2019s first Defense Secretary, in his 2018 resignation letter to the President. It\u2019s a sentiment that\u2019s been expressed by many American leaders, particularly in the post-World War II period. Put simply: On the global stage, friends matter<\/a>. <\/p>\n I thought of this last week, as world leaders gathered in New York for the 80th U.N.G.A.<\/a>, and as tensions appeared in unlikely places. Trump 2.0<\/a> has upended some of America\u2019s strongest global friendships, and in the process taken a wrecking ball<\/a> to the notion espoused by Mattis and many others. <\/p>\n It\u2019s a transactional approach in the name of \u201cAmerica First<\/a>\u201d\u2014reflected in his vitriolic speech<\/a> at the U.N.G.A.\u2014but too often it looks like an own goal. And\u2014to take three now-strained relationships as examples\u2014it\u2019s already hurting the U.S. <\/p>\n A \u201crupture\u201d up north<\/p>\n Canada\u2019s U.N.G.A. delegation isn\u2019t usually a place to go for fireworks, but in New York on Monday, Prime Minister Mark Carney<\/a> was blunt. \u201cThis is not a transition,\u201d he told<\/a> the Council on Foreign Relations. \u201cThis is a rupture.\u201d Carney didn\u2019t mention the U.S. by name, but everyone knew what country he had in mind, and he sounded like a leader girding for battle. Canada will \u201cbuild strength at home,\u201d Carney said. \u201cWe have a determination to rise up and meet this.\u201d<\/p>\n Historically, Canada is about as good a friend as the U.S. has had. The two nations are major trading partners, they have jointly operated the North American Aerospace Defense Command for nearly 70 years, and Canada has been an outsized contributor of troops to U.S.-led wars, though the 2003 Iraq war was a notable exception<\/a>. <\/p>\n Read More: <\/strong>How Canada Got Hooked on the U.S. Economy<\/a><\/p>\n Since Trump returned to office, Canada has been hit with punitive tariffs and repeated threats<\/a> to make it the \u201c51st state.\u201d While it is true that Canada maintains a small trade deficit with the U.S., largely because of energy purchases, the accompanying White House claim<\/a> that Canada is a \u201cmassive\u201d trafficker of fentanyl is certainly not. U.S. Customs reported<\/a> that just 43 lbs. of the opioid entered the country from Canada last year; the figure from Mexico was more than 21,000 lbs. <\/p>\n U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra didn\u2019t help matters when he told<\/a> the Halifax Chamber of Commerce this month that he was \u201cdisappointed<\/a>\u201d with Canada\u2019s \u201canti-American\u201d reaction to the tariffs<\/a>. \u201cA Canada that it would be very easy to target with 500% steel tariffs, or one patriot missile aimed at Parliament Hill,\u201d he added, rather incredulously. <\/p>\n \u201cI think we’ve passed the Rubicon on this,\u201d Richard Fadden, a former Canadian National Security Advisor, told me<\/a> earlier this year. \u201cIt’s going to take a long time for the U.S.’s traditional allies to appreciate the way the world has changed, to adapt to it and come to a new relationship \u2026 This is not going to help the United States\u2019 long-term interests.\u201d<\/p>\n The tariffs will mean higher costs for U.S. car manufacturers and construction companies, and potentially for American consumers, but longer-term consequences loom. Campaigns have sprouted to boycott U.S. products<\/a>, and according to a new Ipsos poll<\/a>, 60% of<\/a> Canadians believe they can no longer trust their southern neighbor. Some 82% say they\u2019ll keep avoiding U.S. goods even if the crisis abates. <\/p>\n In New York City, Carney spoke<\/a> of a \u201cstrong consensus\u201d among Canadians to seek other trade opportunities. \u201cThe country,\u201d he said, \u201cdoes not want to wake up and look, with all due respect, on Truth Social or X to see what the latest change is in U.S. policy, but wants to get on with what we can control.\u201d Just prior to the U.N.G.A. meetings, Carney was in Mexico<\/a> to meet with his counterpart Claudia Sheinbaum. A Canada-Mexico summit is hardly unusual, but their agenda was; a bilateral effort to reduce trade reliance on the U.S. <\/p>\n As for security issues, an obvious question arises: in the next global crisis, when the U.S. seeks a new coalition or military deployment, will any Canadian leader be quick to raise its hand? <\/p>\n \u201cIs this what you do to an ally?\u201d<\/p>\n On the other side of the world, another American friend is fuming.\u00a0<\/p>\n Only a month ago, the Trump Administration\u2019s relationship with South Korea looked sound. President Lee Jae-myung<\/a> met with Trump at the White House in late August and pledged $350 billion in U.S. investments\u2014money for LNG, car manufacturing, and a sorely-needed boost for American shipbuilding<\/a>. Among companies making commitments was carmaking giant Hyundai, which upped<\/a> a pledge of $21 billion in U.S. investment to $26 billion. It was exactly the sort of transactional diplomacy Trump favors, and he said as much<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019re going to get along great (with South Korea) because \u2026 we really sort of need each other.\u201d <\/p>\n Read More: <\/strong>5 Takeaways from TIME\u2019s Conversation with President Lee Jae-Myung<\/a><\/p>\n Ten days later, ICE agents descended on a Hyundai EV battery factory in Ellabell, Georgia. Some 317 South Korean workers were detained for questioning about their visa status. They were shackled\u2014the video<\/a> was shown across South Korea\u2014their cell phones were confiscated, and they said they were never informed of charges against them.<\/p>\n It took high-level diplomacy to free the workers, at which point they were told they could pursue their cases here or return to South Korea. They chose to go home. \u201cMy main takeaway is that America is not a safe place to work,\u201d one of the workers, Park Sun-kyu, told<\/a> The New York Times.\u00a0<\/p>\n South Korean lawmakers condemned<\/a> the raid and questioned the wisdom of further investment in the U.S. The conservative Chosun Ilbo newspaper lamented<\/a> \u201ca breach of trust,\u201d while the liberal Hankyoreh posed<\/a> a question many Canadians were asking: \u201cIs this what you do to an ally?\u201d<\/p>\n John DeLury, an American scholar at Seoul\u2019s Yonsei University and not someone given to bluster, posted on X:<\/a> \u201cSouth Korea is ground zero of the Great American Alienation of the Indo-Pacific.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The raid miffed American officials as well. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp had promoted<\/a> the Hyundai investment as the largest economic development project in his state\u2019s history, and a source of thousands of new jobs<\/a>. Now, Hyundai is advising<\/a> employees to reschedule business trips to the U.S., the South Korean government has put a hold on future investments, and officials have warned of security ramifications. South Korea is home to 28,000 American troops and a bulwark against both North Korea and China.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re in an age of new normal in dealing with the United States,\u201d presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik told<\/a> reporters. \u201cThe standard changes every time and constantly there has to be deal-making, not only on tariffs, but it\u2019ll also be the case with security issues.\u201d<\/p>\n When friends look elsewhere<\/p>\n The case of India is different because, to borrow a metaphor Trump has used vis-a-vis the Ukraine-Russia war, India holds lots of cards.<\/p>\n India\u2019s relations with Washington looked good at the start of the year. The Trump Administration appeared keen to leverage relations with Delhi as a counterweight to China, and Trump himself enjoyed a close relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who came to the White House in February, agreed<\/a> to a new economic and military partnership, and said the Trump Administration would \u201cmake India great again.\u201d<\/p>\n Then it was India\u2019s turn for a \u201crupture.\u201d The White House<\/a> hit Delhi with 25% tariffs, then called India\u2019s economy \u201cdead<\/a>\u201d and doubled the figure, citing India\u2019s purchases of Russian oil. The president also veered sharply towards India\u2019s archrival, offering Pakistan a more generous tariff rate (19%), hosting<\/a> Pakistan\u2019s army chief at the White House, and inviting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for a visit during U.N.G.A. week. <\/p>\n \u201cThe Trump administration is depleting the reservoir of trust that both nations have painstakingly built over a generation,\u201d said<\/a> Richard Rossow, India Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. \u201cThe U.S.-India wider strategic relationship is at serious risk.\u201d<\/p>\n For his part, Modi used a Sept. 21 national address to urge<\/a> \u201cSwadeshi,\u201d a push to buy made-in-India goods, and his supporters have launched Canada-like boycotts<\/a> of American brands that are hugely popular in India. And in August, Modi paid his first visit to China in more than seven years, where he was seen<\/a> laughing with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. Just prior to his China trip, Modi dispatched his foreign minister to Moscow, to boost overall Russia-India trade.<\/p>\n Read More: <\/strong>How Modi Is Sending Trump a Message<\/a><\/p>\n Trump\u2019s bullying was meant to drive a wedge between China and India and pressure India to stop buying Russian oil\u2014but Modi is warming to both China and Russia. And his \u201cSwadeshi\u201d may bring real pain to U.S. exporters. <\/p>\n What comes next<\/p>\n In each of these cases, Trump has been willing to risk a longstanding U.S. alliance for unclear economic benefits. These jilted friends are now starting to look elsewhere for economic and even security partners\u2014as Modi and Carney are doing already. <\/p>\n The hope is that Trump will change his tune. There were small hints of that last week; a State Department assurance<\/a> that India remains a key U.S. partner, and an effort<\/a> to soothe South Korean anger in the wake of the ICE raids.<\/p>\n But while it\u2019s hard to imagine these countries abandoning Washington completely, it\u2019s equally difficult to imagine their leaders rushing to support the U.S. in the future. As Gen. Mattis and so many others would remind us, the damage and the dangers are real. And it\u2019s hard to make America great when you\u2019re upsetting America\u2019s greatest friends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cOur strength as a nation is inextricably linked to the strength of our unique and comprehensive system of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":465745,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[49,978,659,4616],"class_list":{"0":"post-465744","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-united-states","9":"tag-us","10":"tag-usa","11":"tag-world-affairs"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115298913645270059","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=465744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/465745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}