Allies

If our allies need to do more, they are also a benefit to our national security.

The countries that have been most discomfited by Trump 2.0 so far are probably Canada, Denmark, and Ukraine.

This is not exactly the axis of evil, or the axis of anything except countries that are either dependent on the United States or otherwise easily pushed around.

The tone of the first couple of months of the Trump administration has been overwhelmingly one of disregard at best, or contempt and hostility at worst, for our longtime allies.

Following President Trump's announcement of 25% tariffs on cars and car parts imported into the United States, America's trading partners around the world have roundly condemned the policy. Mr. Trump said the tariffs will take effect on April 2, fueling a boom — he promised — in American economic growth.

He said there would be a transition period before Americans reap the benefits of his tariffs-led foreign and economic policy, but for the myriad nations that sell automobiles and components to the U.S., the impacts could be rapid, and devastating.

Germany had a major election last weekend, one that left its center-left ruling party, the Social Democratic Party ruling party in the dust, and the conservative Christian Democratic Union ascendant once again. The country’s likely next leader, Friedrich Merz, took to the airwaves after the results were announced and proclaimed that it was time for not just a new Germany, but for a new Europe.

As Donald Trump strengthens his lead in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, some U.S. allies are worried about an American turn toward isolationism, a shift that would reflect an electorate largely focused on domestic issues.

That was shown in polling in Iowa where Trump scored an overwhelming victory on Monday, with foreign policy the top issue for just one in 10 participants in the state's caucus, according to a poll by Edison Research.

That compared to four in 10 who said the economy was No. 1 and three in 10 who pointed to immigration.

The multiplying charges brought against allies of former President Trump and their mounting legal fees are creating consternation in Trump world — while presenting a real risk to the former president.

Trump has burned through millions of dollars in donor money to pay for legal fees as he defends himself against charges in New York City, Florida, Georgia and Washington, D.C.

But the former president, who has built a reputation for stiffing workers, has shown no interest in providing financial aid to former aides charged over their efforts to keep him in power. 

The U.S., Japan and South Korea agreed to strengthen cooperation, forging a firmer three-way alliance at a time of growing assertiveness by China and belligerence from North Korea.   

The higher-level partnership struck Friday at a landmark summit binds the U.S. and its two closest Asian allies more closely together after years in which antagonism between Japan and South Korea frustrated cooperation.  

In a historic summit Friday at Camp David, President Biden and his counterparts from South Korea and Japan announced they will strengthen military cooperation and turn this first-ever trilateral summit into an annual tradition.

Why it matters: It was Biden's first foreign leader summit at Camp David, and marks a significant step in the rapprochement between Tokyo and Seoul — two U.S. allies whose historically fraught relations have thawed in recent months amid China's increasing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific and ongoing nuclear threats from North Korea.

The power of the presidency always lures those seeking reflected glory. And Donald Trump’s riotous palace court – renowned for lax Oval Office walk-in privileges – was a pageant of characters who might normally have gotten nowhere near a president.