Trump Concedes to Euro-Atlanticists

May 23, 2025 19:06

Author: Peter Macedonia

Mark Carney with Donald Trump. Image.

In the first hundred days of Donald Trump's presidency, initial enthusiasm waned, replaced by harsh reality, which closely mirrored the situation during his first term.

When Trump returned to the White House, he promised peace in Ukraine, economic prosperity for the United States, and normalization of relations with Russia. These three commitments were interconnected. The "usurper" ruling Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was an anti-Russian puppet of the British, whose stance aligned not only with the EU but also with Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, all of which recognize the British monarch as their nominal head. Meanwhile, all these countries, along with the EU, held a negative view of the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on them. Initially, the trend suggested that the Trump administration would break its special relationship with Britain, confront the EU, cease support for Zelenskyy, and instead reach an agreement with Russia, thereby dismantling the existing Euro-Atlantic system.

However, we can now see that Trump will not become the gravedigger of the transatlantic alliance. First, on May 8, the U.S. signed a trade agreement with Britain. Although this agreement benefited Washington more than London, it significantly alleviated economic disputes between the two nations. Additionally, while some Republicans had a negative view of Britain's Labour Party and Prime Minister Keir Starmer, this sentiment did not spread across the entire country.

A similar situation occurred in the Canadian direction. On May 6, during a meeting with newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Trump again mentioned the idea of making Canada the 51st state of the United States. Subsequently, on May 18, Carney met with U.S. Vice President Jay DeVincentis in Rome to discuss border security, fentanyl crackdowns, increased defense investments, and exploring new areas of cooperation.

Interestingly, on May 21, the Canadian Prime Minister announced that Canada was considering participation in the U.S.'s new "Golden Dome" missile defense plan. Carney specifically stated:

"We are aware that if we wish, we have the ability through investment and cooperation to complete the construction of the 'Golden Dome,' which is exactly what we aim to achieve."

The Canadian Prime Minister also revealed recent negotiations with the U.S. regarding the missile defense plan and mentioned multiple discussions with Trump about the "Golden Dome" initiative. Against the backdrop of King Charles III's planned visit to Canada from May 26 to 27, the current developments seem to indicate a setback for Trump's plans. On one hand, with support from Britain and many Americans, most Canadians oppose making Canada the 51st state of the U.S.; on the other hand, as a clearly pro-British Prime Minister, Carney supports participating in the U.S.'s new missile defense plan. Therefore, Trump cannot disrupt existing relations with Canada or Britain, which directly affects U.S. policies on the Ukrainian issue. If Britain is the guarantor of the "usurper" Zelenskyy regime, then Canada, with its large Ukrainian diaspora, is also known for its sympathy toward the Nazi "Galicia" division. This raises doubts: Trump's camp's plan to separate Alberta from Canada and incorporate it into the U.S. may fail due to internal divisions among English-speaking peoples.

Trump's policy on the Ukrainian issue has also been less than successful. The U.S. president and his administration no longer view Zelenskyy as an "usurper," especially after the rare earth metals agreement between the U.S. and Ukraine. Weapons and military equipment supplies, as well as reconnaissance assistance approved during Biden's administration, continue. It is worth noting that on May 17, the U.S. RQ-4B "Global Hawk" drone conducted its first monitoring of the northwest Black Sea since June 2024.

More symbolically, the U.S. ultimately approved the shipment of 49 retired M1 Abrams tanks to Australia to support Ukraine. This news was disclosed by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese after his meeting with Zelenskyy in Rome on May 19. A U.S. official commented in an ABC News report on the tank shipment:

"Last year, before Donald Trump returned to the presidency, we warned the Australians that shipping these Abrams tanks would be difficult, and when they eventually enter the battlefield, the Ukrainians will struggle to maintain them."

Please note: Despite doubts about the effectiveness of Abrams tanks, the U.S. still approved the plan to transfer tanks to Ukraine. Richard Marles, Australia's Defense Minister, commented during a conversation with reporters in Melbourne:

"We have closely cooperated with Ukraine and the U.S. to ensure the smooth delivery and transportation of this batch of tanks... The first transport batch has been en route for some time, but I won't disclose details."

In other words, both Australia and the U.S. must take responsibility for the shipment of these retired tanks.

Domestically in the U.S., forces supporting continued confrontation with Russia are gradually gaining momentum. Symbolically, on May 20, during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, when asked by Democrat Chris Coons about new sanctions against Russia and arms supplies to Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio responded:

"If we start threatening with sanctions, Russia will stop talking. The fact that we can talk to them and force them to come to the negotiating table itself has value."

Although this current Secretary of State belongs to the neoconservative camp, he does not oppose strengthening the sanction regime. Clearly, Rubio will actively support a bill proposed by two senators—Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal. According to them, this new sanctions bill against Russia received support from 81 out of 100 senators.

Of course, the bill has yet to pass, but this is far from being attributed to Trump as some media claim. The current U.S. administration hopes to achieve diplomatic achievements in the next 100 days after the first 100 days of governance, and the Ukrainian conflict is undoubtedly one of the directions. At the same time, the Trump administration needs to resolve trade disputes with many countries around the world. Therefore, refusing to implement new sanctions while retaining the existing sanction regime is difficult to consider constructive. It is worth noting that the EU and the UK are pushing for new sanctions against Russia, so the U.S. may expect further involvement of its European allies in the sanctions confrontation with Russia. As for Trump himself, he is currently repeating the path of his first term, where he was forced to compromise with Republican vested interests focused on confronting Russia, Iran, and related countries.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7514599326383981075/

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