During his inaugural address, President Trump stated, “From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world.” He boasted, “Our safety will be restored.”
Those predictions could not be further from the truth. Instead of championing our network of alliances, the administration is withdrawing the U.S. from the world stage. Instead of building our economic power, Trump has imposed a chaotic tariff policy, hurting some of our biggest trading partners and causing the dollar to drop in value. Instead of bolstering our military lethality, Trump’s Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is leaving our military more vulnerable. One hundred days into his second term, the U.S. is weaker on the world stage and less safe from threats than we were on January 20. And our friends and adversaries notice.
Trump’s policies and incompetence work in U.S. adversaries’ favor.
First, look at America’s standing in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization — the strongest and most successful defensive alliance. NATO’s Article V states that an attack against one member is considered an attack against all. It’s only been invoked once: on September 12, 2001. After the horrific 9/11 terrorist attacks, our allies helped secure U.S. airspace and deterred terrorist activity in the Mediterranean Sea. Their troops stood shoulder to shoulder with ours in deploying to Afghanistan.
This network of alliances like NATO, which expanded to 32 countries in 2024, helps protect the U.S. and maintain its strength. And yet Trump has chosen the path of isolation. He has said that the U.S. might not support NATO countries if they don’t meet their spending requirements. He has repeatedly threatened to walk away from supporting Ukraine, and has already withheld military aid packages and temporarily suspended intelligence sharing. And he has turned off humanitarian aid and support to countries that need it most, allowing countries like Russia and China to fill the vacuum.
Trump’s policies and incompetence work in U.S. adversaries’ favor. Before his second term, Trump claimed he could end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours. Now, as special envoy Steve Witkoff travels to Moscow again and again to meet with President Vladimir Putin, Russia continues to bomb Ukrainian cities and kill innocent Ukrainian civilians. Trump has even doubted that Putin wants peace, while trying to claim that his earlier timeline was both “an exaggeration” and “in jest.” Nevertheless, none of that has not stopped the Trump administration from catering to Russian demands, proposing that Kyiv relinquish significant territory, that Crimea should be acknowledged as part of Russia and that Ukraine should be kept from joining NATO.
As for the global economy, Trump has injected chaos into world markets. On so-called “Liberation Day,” Trump imposed some of the highest tariffs ever on America’s trading partners. Most of these duties were paused after panic in the markets, but if implemented, experts project these blanket tariffs will cost Americans over $4,000 a year.
Less easily quantified, but still considerable, is the damage done to our country’s standing. Our allies are already turning to other nations — including even our adversaries — for economic, financial and military support. As some of our largest trading partners, like Canada, Mexico, Japan and Korea, become more closely aligned with other countries, this could lead to a shift in the global balance of power. And when America is economically strained, our national security is equally strained.
This is not the moment for America to go it alone.
And then there is of course our military. The President fired numerous highly respected senior officers, including: General CQ Brown Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to lead the Navy; General James Slife, the vice chief of the Air Force; and the top judge advocate generals for the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, who advise the military on how to legally conduct their actions.
These members of our military are not political appointees who come in and depart with a president. They have decades of essential experience and have reached these positions because of their deep knowledge and background on how to make our military more lethal and protect Americans against any future wars.
Meanwhile, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth continues to be embroiled in scandals, including his sharing of sensitive information in Signal text groups. Intentionally sharing sensitive intelligence on unsecure systems would end a career, and for someone who talks a big game about supporting warfighters, Hegseth’s actions put our service members in harm’s way.
Elsewhere, the administration is withdrawing hundreds of troops from Syria, despite continuing threats from the Islamic State; considering merging U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command into a single entity even as Russian and Chinese influence grows in Africa; and possibly ceding the NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) role—traditionally held by the EUCOM commander and an American for nearly 75 years.
In just 100 days, President Trump has completely disregarded the values and alliances that underpin American national security. This is not the moment for America to go it alone. It’s a moment for the U.S. and its allies to lock arms, defend our shared interests, and lead — together and as a team. A divided West is a weaker West. And a weaker West only strengthens those who wish to see this country fall.
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