Trump pays the price for making America an unreliable ally 

Having paused U.S. attacks on Iran, can President Trump be persuaded to suspend hostilities against Europe as well?

His reckless rhetorical overkill is making the transatlantic alliance collateral damage in operation Epic Fury. 

Trump has called key European allies “cowards” for not coming to America’s aid — specifically to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He has dismissed NATO as a “paper tiger” and threatened to pull the U.S. out of the collective security pact.   

He upped the ante earlier this week, comparing United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer to his Hitler-appeasing predecessor, Neville Chamberlain.

Accusing our NATO partners of being faithless allies is chutzpah on stilts. Trump didn’t consult European leaders before impulsively joining Israel Feb. 28 in launching air strikes against Iran and its Middle East proxies. Nor could he produce evidence to back his claim of an “imminent” Iranian threat to the U.S.

If it’s any consolation to our beleaguered European friends, Trump scarcely bothered to consult Congress or the public, either. He finally presented his case to the nation in a White House address last week, 32 days into the war. It did little to dispel the fog of confusion that has enshrouded his war aims from the start.  

Having run through 10 separate rationales, Trump settled on the sound strategic goal set by previous presidents: preventing Tehran from building nuclear weapons. But that put the lie to his boast of having “totally destroyed” Iran’s nuclear program with airstrikes last June.  

Would you buy a used war from this salesman?

The president gave little thought to how it might affect their economies and seemed surprised by Iran’s predictable countermove of threatening shipping in the Persian Gulf. Europe is now bracing for an energy supply shock that is already pushing fuel and fertilizer costs higher, grounding airlines and diverting oil and gas shipments to Asian countries that are far more dependent on Middle Eastern energy.   

Some European leaders, from Spain’s left-leaning Pedro Sanchez to Italy’s right-leaning Giorgia Meloni, barred Iran-bound U.S. warplanes from using bases in their countries as part of the campaign. They noted that NATO is a purely defensive alliance and sanctimoniously denounced Washington for violating international law.   

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio complained that they are the ones jeopardizing NATO. He has a half a point. Our European allies could have opted out of Trump’s private war without denying U.S. forces access to NATO bases or ignoring Iran’s deep complicity in war and terrorism.

The rift shows how deeply Trump’s “America First” foreign policy has depleted the reserves of transatlantic trust and good will built up over eight decades.

Europe has long been one of Trump’s favorite pinatas. He spent much of his first term berating our allies for free-riding on U.S. defense spending.

Just over a year ago, on “Liberation Day,” Trump announced massive tariffs on most imports, saying, “For decades, our country has been looted, pillaged, raped, and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike.” He added that U.S. workers have “watched in anguish as foreign leaders have stolen our jobs, foreign cheaters have ransacked our factories, and foreign scavengers have torn apart our once-beautiful American dream.” 

This paranoid screed falsely lumped friendly democracies in Europe and the Pacific Rim, which have largely played by the rules of global trade, into the same basket as China and other authoritarian countries with predatory trade policies.   

In this week’s press conference, Trump traced his disdain for NATO to Europe’s resistance to his attempt to bully Denmark into giving him Greenland. “We want Greenland. They don’t want to give it to us. And I said, ‘bye, bye.'”

Then there’s Ukraine. Since Russia’s 2022 invasion, Europeans have been bewildered by Trump’s eagerness to appease Vladimir Putin and attempts to pressure Ukraine into making peace on the Kremlin warlord’s terms.    

Vice President JD Vance raised hackles this week by meddling in Hungary’s presidential campaign. He stumped for Hungarian strongman Viktor Orban, who’s known as “Putin’s Trojan horse in Europe.” Orban has vexed his European Union neighbors with demands that they embrace illiberal Christian nationalism.

Trump is paying the price for making America an unreliable ally. This made-in-Washington rupture with Europe (and Canada) is a big part of the baleful legacy his White House successors will have to undo.

This gives Democrats an opening to make a fresh case for transatlantic solidarity. The most recent Reagan National Defense Survey shows public support for U.S. alliances reached an all-time high last year. Most Americans don’t support a selfish and purely transactional diplomacy toward democracies with whom we share deep historical ties and core political values.

It won’t be easy to repair the Trump-induced breach of trust within the Western alliance. But by repealing his tariffs, siding unequivocally with Ukraine and reaffirming America’s fidelity to liberal democracy, Democrats could make a strong start.

Will Marshall is president and founder of Progressive Policy Institute.   

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

More Opinions - White House News

Automatic registration for US military draft to begin in December

Pentagon turf war ramps up between Hegseth and Driscoll

Fetterman says he won’t support Iran war powers resolution

A ‘super’ El Niño may be on the way. Here’s how it will impact summer ...

Melania Trump denies ties to Epstein, slams reports on email with Ghislaine ...

Vance seeks to save fragile ceasefire at expected Islamabad trip

Confusion surrounds Trump effort to pay TSA, DHS; some could see last paycheck ...

DNC delivers blow to progressives on Israel issues

Wisconsin mayor who removed ballot drop boxes won’t face charges

Trump: Iran ‘better not be’ charging tolls in Strait of Hormuz

Judge orders Pentagon to restore press access

Trump’s latest tariffs face trade court showdown

Casey Means’s brother says ‘conversations happening’ in surgeon general ...

Khanna: Netanyahu in Situation Room ‘a betrayal of the American people’

Army secretary who clashed with Hegseth says he has no plans to ‘depart or ...

Pentagon denies threatening Vatican during January meeting with Holy See’s ...

Fertility rate drops to new record low: CDC

Harris invites 2028 speculation with speech in New York to Al Sharpton-hosted ...

The Hill Podcasts – Morning Report

© The Hill