- Position‹2 of 2
- No, Donald Trump is a bad president
Trump's actions have made his administration's priorities perfectly clear: America first. As a result of the US adopting a 'go at it alone' attitude to international relations, alliances built on mutual trust and co-operation are being eroded and replaced with increasing isolationism and alienation.
The argument
This argument assesses the presidency by its effect on the alliances the United States depends on, and holds that those relationships were damaged from two directions at once. The first was pressure on allies. Under Trump's presidency the United States of America increasingly became hostile to some of its key allies: it threatened to put tariffs on the European Union, and attacked Germany and other NATO allies for not contributing a higher percentage of their Gross Domestic Product to defence spending. What makes such treatment costly, regardless of whether the complaints had merit, is that a tariff threat treats an ally as an economic adversary, and public criticism of allied defence spending is a statement about the conditions under which American commitments hold. Alliances rest on predictability, so pressure of that kind reduces the value of a guarantee even when nothing is formally withdrawn. The second direction was warmth toward adversaries. Trump courted and openly stated his admiration for dictators and strongmen, like North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Set beside the criticism of allies, the contrast carried its own message: the allies were being pressed while the governments they were aligned against were being praised. The consequence identified is a shift in judgement abroad. Key allies such as Germany were left feeling alienated, with their respective populations concluding that the USA under Trump was dangerous and a threat to world peace — an assessment about the United States itself rather than about a passing dispute. Because alliances depend on reliability and that reliability was placed in question, this argument holds that Trump alienated America's allies and was a bad president.
Premises
Counter-arguments
The United States of America under Donald Trump's leadership has been more assertive on the world stage with a distinctive 'America First' policy. This has led to Trump being more willing than other US Presidents to threaten and enact tariffs on America's trade competitors, including China and the European Union. Trump has also been willing to call out the unequal amount of money the USA contributes to multinational institutions compared to its allies, including America's disproportionate funding contribution to the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Under his presidency, he has put pressure on allies to pay their fair share and live up to their treaty obligations.
Rejecting the premises
[Rejecting P1] Trump's policy is not alienating; it is simply putting 'America First'.