The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For leaders of U.S. allies, trying to get close to Trump can sting
LONDON — It had all been going so well. Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain had just left Washington Friday evening after a tense but successful first visit with President Donald Trump for a 10-hour flight to Ankara, Turkey, for her next awkward encounter, with the increasingly autocratic Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
By the time she had landed in Ankara, however, Trump had signed his executive order halting entrance to the United States of all Syrian refugees and of most citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries, including dual nationals. May was beginning to feel the backlash.
After she termed the executive order a U.S. issue, criticism erupted even among her own members of Parliament. She was accused of appeasement by a former British diplomat.
A close relationship with any U.S. president is regarded as crucial by allies and foes alike, but especially by intimates like Britain, Canada, Japan and Mexico. Yet the leaders of those nations are finding that they draw close at their peril.
While May is the latest prominent figure to be burned by cozying up to Trump, the leaders of those other three close allies have also felt the sting of humiliation soon after what seemed to be friendly telephone calls or encounters. They then find themselves facing a no-win situation, either openly criticizing the leader of their superpower ally or pulling their punches and risking severe criticism at home.
One Western leader to escape this fate so far is German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has kept a cool distance from Trump. In a telephone call Saturday, she reminded him of Washington’s obligations under the Geneva Conventions to accept refugees fleeing war.
The danger of playing nice with Trump should come as little surprise to his country’s allies. Besides campaigning on an “America First” platform, he has regularly argued that they have been taking the U.S. for a ride, in trade, security and financial terms.
While he has been cordial in public settings with the leaders of those allied nations, Trump has turned on them soon afterward.
“The problem for May is that Trump doesn’t value relationships. He values strength and winning,” said Jeremy Shapiro, director of research at the European Council on Foreign Relations and a former senior State Department official.
While Trump’s executive order was clearly not aimed at Britain, he signed it Friday, just a few hours after May left. “You can show up at his doorstep and hold his hand so he doesn’t fall down a ramp, but that doesn’t mean a few hours later when he’s signing an order he thinks at all about how it affects you, your politics or your citizens,” Shapiro said.
Particularly problematic fo r May was her offering an invitation to Trump to undertake a state visit with Queen Elizabeth II this year, which was accepted. That is the subject of an internet petition to Parliament calling for the cancellation of the invitation “because it would cause embarrassment to Her Majesty the Queen.”
By early afternoon in Britain, there were more than 1.3 million signatures, and some were enjoying themselves watching the numbers rise in real time. On Monday, Downing Street insisted that the invitation stood.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan has the distinction of being among the first to feel the sting of Trump’s actions. In a meeting in November in New York, Abe urged Trump, then the president-elect, not to abandon a major trade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
One of Trump’s first actions in office was to abandon the treaty, which many considered a victory for China.
In Canada, too, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has had his Trump moments. Trump is deeply unpopular in the country.
So instead of provoking a fight, Trudeau moved swiftly to make contact with officials in the new administration and reshaped his Cabinet to promote ministers with experience in the United States.
Trump made problems right away for the Canadian leader by giving the go-ahead to the Keystone XL pipeline, putting Trudeau in an uncomfortable position between environmentalists and oil producers.
If Trump goes after Canada on trade issues, as seems likely, Trudeau is expected to become significantly more vocal and critical.