Donald Trump represents a greater threat to NATO than said Vladimir Putin, one of the former commanders of the alliance in a powerful attack on Washington’s foreign policy.
The American President caused alarm after a series of aggressive moves this year including the capture of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, threats to invade Greenland and the controversial claim that European troops in Afghanistan “were not on the front lines”.
General Sir Richard Shirreff, the former deputy supreme commander of the NATO ally for Europe, said that Trump’s threat of military intervention in Greenland was “absolutely not bluster” even after the President of the United States promised not to use force to seize the island, which is a territory of NATO member Denmark.
“We have to take it literally. We have to assume with Trump, as with Putin, that the worst case will happen,” he said. The Independent. “Trump is the biggest threat [to Nato] if you want to make the comparison. It is Trump who takes the prize.”
Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump shake hands at their meeting last year (AFP/Getty)
Shirreff, who is now chairman of Healix’s Security and Risk Advisory Board, said that Trump had “destroyed the international order” in the first year of his second term. “He is also on his way to destroy the one alliance that has guaranteed transatlantic security for 77 years,” he added.
The former British Army officer said Trump had presented Putin with two of his most cherished foreign policy objectives “on a plate”.
“He has decoupled America from European security and is effectively keeping NATO under the waterline because of his threat.”
Shirreff said that, while Putin poses an “existential threat” to Europe, his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 had united NATO and “brought the international order closer together”.
Brigadier Richard Shirreff, commanding officer of the 7th Army Brigade in Kosovo during its conflict in the late 1990s (PA)
Trump, meanwhile, has turned the global rules-based system “into a dead duck”, he added. “Obviously Putin has threatened it greatly but Trump has attacked the one alliance that provides our security.”
In the US, Trump has been ridiculed for what critics call a “TACO” approach to politics – meaning Trump Always Chickens Out. He recently threatened military intervention in both Greenland and Iran – before appearing to back down and seek diplomatic solutions.
But Shirreff said the threats alone, particularly to Greenland, are enough to cause serious damage to Washington’s NATO alliances.
“The main nation of the alliance has threatened the territorial integrity of another alliance member… how do you move forward and rebuild trust? Nobody is going to trust Trump again, and we have three more years of him.”
In response to the instability, Shirreff advised NATO to “Europeanize” and seek strategic and military independence from the United States, particularly for the remainder of Trump’s mandate.
Donald Trump backed off his threats to Greenland after Davos, but Shirreff said the threat alone is bad enough (Getty)
Other experts disagreed with Shirreff’s conclusion about which leader is a greater threat to NATO.
Jon B Alterman, chair in global security and geostrategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies agreed that Putin’s war had a “unifying effect” on NATO, but argued that Trump was more “open to persuasion” from NATO allies.
He said that Trump’s foreign policy and the attacks on NATO reflect the concerns that many Americans have about the role of the United States abroad. Earlier this month, Trump claimed he had “saved NATO” in a post on Truth Social.
“This is an old American complaint,” Alterman said The Independent. “European states are now looking at alternative arrangements and these conversations were absolutely not happening a year ago. The international order needs to rethink its response, for some it was a very one-sided relationship.”
Trump speaks with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (AFP/Getty)
Gabriel A Giménez Roche, associate professor of economics and finance at NEOMA Business School said the unpopularity in the polls could serve as a check on Trump’s unfettered global ambitions.
“Trump’s confrontational stance towards Europe does not have strong support among the American electorate,” he says. “Polls consistently show skepticism toward antagonizing allies, annexation rhetoric, and growing trade conflicts — a sentiment that could have electoral consequences.”
But Putin can benefit from the uncertainty automatically. “If neither European firms nor American voters benefit, the answer is disturbing. The primary beneficiary appears to be Vladimir Putin, whose strategic interests are served by a distracted United States, a divided transatlantic relationship, and a Europe forced to reassess its dependence on Washington.”
A White House spokesman said The Independent: “President Trump has done more for NATO than anyone else. America’s contributions to NATO exceed those of other countries, and his success in delivering on a 5 percent spending pledge from NATO allies is helping Europe take greater responsibility for its own defense.
“The United States is the only NATO partner that can protect Greenland, and the President is advancing NATO’s interests by doing so.”