WASHINGTON: With his decision to pull some US troops from Germany, his threats to draw down forces elsewhere in Europe and his downplaying of Iran’s recent attacks on an important Gulf partner, President Donald Trump’s latest moves foreshadow what could be the war’s enduring legacy: the fraying of ties with key allies.
Even as the US and Iran inch towards a potential off-ramp from their 10-week war, Trumps words and deeds have revived fears among Washington’s long-standing friends — from Europe to the Middle East to the Indo-Pacific — that the United States might be unreliable in a future crisis.
In response, some traditional US partners are starting to hedge their bets in ways that may bring long-lasting changes in relations with Washington, while adversaries such as China and Russia are looking to exploit strategic openings.
It is not yet clear whether Trump’s war with Iran will mark a permanent turning point in US relations with the world. But most analysts believe his erratic conduct since returning to office, essentially upending the rules-based global order, will further erode US alliances, especially with Nato continuing to feel his ire for largely resisting his wartime demands.
Trumps recklessness with respect to Iran is resulting in some dramatic shifts, said Brett Bruen, a former adviser in the Obama administration who now heads the Situation Room strategic consultancy. US credibility is at stake.
Tensions are especially high between Trump and the Europeans since he joined Israel in striking Iran on Feb 28, claiming without evidence that Tehran was close to developing a nuclear weapon. Iran’s retaliatory closure of the Strait of Hormuz unleashed an unprecedented global energy shock that has made European countries some of the biggest economic losers from a war they never asked for.
Even before that, Trump had rattled allies by imposing sweeping tariffs, pushing to take over Greenland from Denmark and cutting military aid to Ukraine. The rift widened when Trump announced this week he was withdrawing 5,000 of the 36,400 troops the US has stationed in Germany after Chancellor Friedrich Merz angered him by saying publicly that the Iranians were humiliating the US. The Pentagon then scrapped a planned deployment of Tomahawk cruise missiles to Germany.
Trump — who has long questioned whether the US should remain in the Nato alliance it helped create after World War Two — said he was also considering reducing US forces in Italy and Spain, whose leaders have been at odds with him over the war.
‘Allies not doing enough to back US’
The move followed Trump’s accusations that allies have not been doing enough to back the US in the war and his suggestions that this meant Washington might no longer need to honor the alliances Article 5 mutual defense clause.
President Trump has made his disappointment with Nato and other allies clear,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said, noting that some requests to use military bases in Europe for the Iran war had been denied by host governments.
While insisting that Trump had “restored Americas standing on the world stage and strengthened relationships abroad,” she said he “will never allow the United States to be treated unfairly and taken advantage of by so-called allies.
Trump had earlier taken aim at British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, deriding him in March as “not Winston Churchill” and threatening to impose a “big tariff” on imports from the UK.
Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2026
