America’s adversaries are growing more coordinated, posing potential challenges to the isolationist foreign policy stance Donald Trump advocates ahead of a potential second term, a former advisor in his administration has warned.
‘One big difference from the past is this axis of disrupters: Russia, China, Iran, North Korea,’ Nadia Schadlow, who served as deputy national security advisor for strategy in the Trump administration, told the Wall Street Journal.
‘They are functioning as a much more cohesive coalition than in the past. That is a new dynamic he would have to manage,’ added Schadlow, who is currently a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.
Trump, the likely Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election, has in recent days doubled down on his stance that America should pull back from global affairs and focus on domestic problems.
Earlier this week, he appeared to encourage Russia to attack NATO allies who don’t meet their quotas for defense spending, and demanded European allies ‘Pay up!’ to match US military aid to Ukraine.
‘His frame of mind is that if you want us to defend you, you have to spend money,’ Schadlow told the Journal.
Voter weariness with overseas wars and the perceived US role as the world’s policeman helped propel Trump to victory in 2016, when he also promised tougher conditions on allies and fewer foreign entanglements.
Now he is doubling down on that stance, but Schadlow warns that it comes at a time of increasing coordination between US adversaries.
US officials say North Korea is now supplying weapons to Russia. Moscow has also sought closer ties with China and Iran as it continues its war against Ukraine.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told DailyMail.com in a statement: ‘Crooked Joe Biden has allowed this disaster to happen, which is why we need President Trump back in the White House.’
On Iran, Trump says he would continue the tough policies of his first term, when he suspended an Obama-era deal to curtail Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
On China, Trump has vowed even tougher positions on trade, talking of revoking normal trading relations and imposing sanctions of up to 60 percent.
But he has also lavished praise on Chinese leader Xi Jinping, calling him a ‘brilliant guy’ at a rally earlier this month.
Trump has also remained vague about whether he believes the US should defend Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing is intent on establishing control over.
‘If I answer that question, it’ll put me in a very bad negotiating position,’ he said on Fox News last summer when asked whether the US should defend Taiwan
‘With that being said, Taiwan did take all of our chip business,’ he added, referring to Taiwan’s leading status as a producer of advanced semiconductors.
Trump has said little about his plans for North Korea and its leader Kim Jong Un, after trading ‘love letters’ with the dictator in his first term.
In December, Trump dismissed as ‘fake news’ reports that he plans to strike a deal that would allow Kim to keep his nuclear arsenal, but ease sanctions if he halts new warhead development.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are at their highest in years. Kim is believed to be accelerating his nuclear and missile program, and has enshrined in law his nation’s right to launch preemptive strikes.
During his first term, Trump he proposed withdrawing US troops from South Korea, Germany and other countries.
He has said he would push for greater military spending in a second term, to deter adversaries from challenging the US or starting new wars.
Last weekend, Trump was widely condemned for claiming he would encourage Russia to attack NATO members who didn’t ‘pay up’.
Among those condemning the former president was the White House, which branded his remarks ‘unhinged,’ and a former communications aide who said Trump was emboldening Vladimir Putin, amid fears it could even trigger World War Three.
The ex-president made the alarming promise to rile up a cheering crowd, that spilled on to the streets outside his rally in Conway, South Carolina, on Saturday.
‘The president of a big country stood up and said “if we don’t pay, and we’re attacked by Russia, will you protect us?” I said you didn’t pay, you’re delinquent? He said, “yes, let’s say that happened”.
‘No, I would not protect you, in fact I would encourage them (Russia) to do whatever the hell they want, you gotta pay! You gotta pay your bills.’
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
