World leaders are increasingly ignoring Trump's threats — The Washington Post
World leaders are reacting with increasing restraint to U.S. President Donald Trump’s bombastic statements, as they have learned to distinguish his rhetoric from his actual actions.
According to The Washington Post, after Trump’s return to the White House, his statements about imposing new tariffs, the possible annexation of Canada, establishing control over Greenland, the U.S. withdrawal from NATO, or military action against Iran initially caused concern among allies and financial markets. Subsequently, foreign governments began to take such statements much more calmly.
As the publication notes, many of the U.S. president’s ultimatums were not carried out or ended in compromises, which influenced partners’ attitudes toward his negotiating tactics.
“We’ve gotten used to these daily statements. Now we don’t take them quite so seriously,” said Brando Benifei, a member of the European Parliament.
The publication cites examples where Trump’s tough rhetoric failed to produce the expected results. In particular, China did not change its position following threats to impose 100 percent tariffs, and European allies did not fully support the U.S. stance on Iran. Furthermore, the European Union did not revise its policy following statements about a possible suspension of trade with Spain.
Mujtaba Rahman, Director of European Affairs at the consulting firm Eurasia Group, noted that European governments are increasingly distinguishing between the U.S. president’s high-profile statements and his actual actions. According to the publication, a similar approach has taken hold in the Gulf states as well.
At the same time, experts caution that this shift in attitude does not mean the risks have diminished. In their view, if Republicans lose some control over Congress after the midterm elections, Trump may make more active use of his presidential powers, which would make his policies less predictable.
This is reported by The Washington Post.
As a reminder, twenty-five U.S. states have filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration, challenging the imposition of new import tariffs. The plaintiffs claim that these restrictions effectively replaced the tariffs that the Supreme Court struck down in February.
The U.S. has imposed sanctions against Russian military entities.
