Key US allies 'perplexed' as Trump treats friends like enemies

[DonViejo]

By Nicole Gaouette, CNN

Updated 1:13 AM ET, Sat May 26, 2018

Washington (CNN) - President Donald Trump's decision to cancel his historic meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong Un left South Korea's President "perplexed" and sparked angry protests in Seoul. One sign read: "We condemn Trump." Welcome to life these days as a close US ally.

Under the 45th President, long-standing US friends and partners have come in for surprises, some of them bruising. Trump has questioned enduring alliances, insulted neighbors, threatened tariffs against some of America's oldest friends and made clear he'll sanction their businesses if they don't toe his line.

Trump's allies say this is the President's "peace through strength" doctrine at work, where America flexes its military and economic muscles to shape the world it wants. It's a theme Trump warmed to Friday in Annapolis, telling US Naval Academy graduates that the world is "respecting us again," a theme he stressed in his first State of the Union address, declaring that "weakness is the surest path to conflict, and unmatched power is the surest means of our defense."

But there are other forces at work that are shifting the ground on US relationships around the world, including the President's personality, his campaign promises and the overwhelming weight he places on domestic politics.

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https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/26/politics/trump-korea-summit-angry-allies/index.html

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1. people seem to forget he's aligned with russia.

the way he treats countries like germany and south korea makes more sense when you remember donnie's america is a russian puppet state.

[Caliman73]

2. Trump cannot be anything more than what he is.

People have been or at least had been saying that the moment would arrive when Trump would begin to adapt to the role and take a more serious and "presidential" tone. Those people obviously know NOTHING about human behavior and psychology. I would be willing to bet my life that Trump suffered significant Attachment Trauma as a child and that this has affected him throughout his life. He has little trust in anyone or anything, needs constant praise to be at baseline, and has a string of broken relationships from family, intimate, and business. He cannot connect with anyone on a human level. His wealth has allowed him to be a narcissistic bully throughout his life with few consequences. The man is 70 years old and has NEVER had to adapt to anything, why would he suddenly change just because he is the president?

Trump has been used to coercing and threatening people, usually subordinates or people whose wealth or power did not match his own. He routinely refused to pay people he worked with despite legal contracts. As long as he had the greater resources, he could stall, threaten, and leave the contractor or business partner in a position where they would have to accept less payment. If people cannot see the same pattern here then they are idiots. The United States is by far, the richest and militarily the most powerful country on the planet. We are no invincible, but we are the only super power despite the ascendance of China and re-emergence of Russia. Trump therefore thinks that all other countries are subordinate like the contractors he hired to work on the Taj in Atlantic City.

The problem is that unlike business where you can engage in unethical practices and use the legal system as a weapon, in diplomatic affairs, you cannot break alliances and treaties without consequence. I can see, if this continues, new alliances starting to form, like with the TPP, where the countries we betrayed by pulling out continue on their own or look to China for a partner. I can see the EU, tired of being antagonized, forging partnerships with other players including China and Latin America. Eventually the US can get cut out of the loop and lose its status.

Spain was the dominant empire for a long time, as were England, and France in their day. England could be considered the first hyper power and was dominant in economics and military for hundreds of years. They all lost that power eventually. The US has been an economic power for over a century, but we did not become a Superpower until the 1940's and we did not become the only superpower until the 1990's when the Soviet Union collapsed. While it is normal for other countries to always want to take a piece out of the largest power, Trump is helping them by trying to intimidate and coerce. Unless we plan to fight the entire world, in which case we will lose, then we need to stop bullying before the world calls our bluff.