When the World Economic Forum meeting wrapped up last week in Davos, Switzerland, it was clear that many longtime allies of the United States no longer saw the Trump-led U.S. as the leader of the free world. On the contrary, as the American president levied new threats and eyed new conquests, foreign leaders envisioned a new world order, with new alliances and partnerships, that left the country once seen as the preeminent superpower behind.
This week, the shifting dynamic came into sharper focus. NBC News reported:
There’s a hot new travel spot for American allies. Unnerved by President Donald Trump, a succession of Western leaders is heading to Beijing and reviving ties with the United States’ chief geopolitical rival.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday was the latest U.S. ally to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the wake of Trump’s attack on Venezuela, his demands for control of Greenland and new tariff threats.
In Beijing, Starmer and Xi called for a new “comprehensive strategic partnership” intended to deepen the ties between the two countries amid global uncertainty. Left unsaid: Much of that uncertainty has been generated by the White House.
Starmer has plenty of company. The Wall Street Journal reported that longtime U.S. trading partners, who are “feeling burned by an unpredictable and transactional White House,” are “reassessing China in a drive to lessen their longstanding reliance on America.” The same report noted that officials in Canada and South Korea and throughout Europe are “scouring the globe” for alternative markets to the United States — and if they can’t count on the world’s largest economy, they’ll settle for the world’s second-largest economy.
And let’s not forget the world’s fifth-largest economy: The leaders of the European Union and India also announced a trade agreement this week. The New York Times reported that the deal became “more urgent for both sides as President Trump continues to upend the global order and test longstanding alliances.”
Two days later, Canada, in the market for new friends, announced an agreement with South Korea to explore bringing Korean automotive manufacturing to the country. This came on the heels of the EU endorsing a sweeping trade pact with four South American countries. (A Times report noted that it was Trump’s “confrontational approach” that helped seal the deal.)
On Thursday night, the American president was asked about British officials forging new business ties with China, and he replied: “It’s very dangerous for them to do that, and it’s even more dangerous for Canada to get into business with China.”
Perhaps, though Trump has no one to blame but himself for pushing some of the United States’ closest allies into the arms of other world powers.
Former Secretary of State John Kerry this week made the case that “[w]e must stand up for a world that needs a renewed multilateral moment. Otherwise we will by default accept a world in which our friends move on as best they can without us.”
There’s ample evidence to suggest that process is already underway.
