Is President Trump's Tone Affecting U.S. Alliances And Perception?

From L-R, Belgium's King Philippe, U.S. President Donald Trump, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Belgian's Prime Minister Charles Michel gather with NATO member leaders to pose for a family picture before the start of their summit in Brussels, Belgium, May 25, 2017. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann

The Guardian: How Trump’s actions and tone affect US alliances and perception on global stage

Trump’s foreign policy approach has stunned observers, but recent weeks have underscored potential ramifications of his loose rhetoric and abrupt policy shifts

In less than 140 characters, Donald Trump had left the chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee speechless.

Senator Bob Corker, a Republican from Tennessee, could barely mask his disbelief when reporters on Capitol Hill informed him of tweets in which Trump accused Qatar, a close US ally, of being a state sponsor of terrorism. “The president?” Corker asked, lowering his register.

It was not until Corker read the tweets from one reporter’s cellphone that he appeared to process the information. And even as Corker, once on the shortlist to be Trump’s secretary of state, sought to emphasize the American tradition of working with all of its Gulf state allies, his words gave way to prolonged moments of silence.

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WNU Editor: The political-cultural differences between President Trump and other Western leaders have certainly been on display for all of us to see. And while the Guardian quotes "foreign policy experts" who see abrupt policy shifts .... I see President Trump keeping the promises that he made during the election and to the voters who supported him. A few examples .... for some NATO leaders a public-display of support for NATO's Article 5 from President Trump was important to them .... but they were not interested in matching this commitment from President Trump with a commitment to increase their own defense budgets .... a point that was/is important to President Trump. The crisis over Qatar is another example .... it is a country that has given funds and support to terror groups and President Trump called them out on it .... but others preferred him to say nothing. Are these actions and tone affecting U.S. alliances .... I hope so. The world is changing, and the old status quo has to change with it. Is this making many Western leaders and their citizens nervous .... definitely. They are now facing costs that they never calculated or expected to pay .... and if given a choice between guns and butter .... they would not want to be the ones to make the decision to buy guns. But while the above Guardian post focuses on what some Western leaders may think of President Trump .... and what is the public perception of President Trump .... in all fairness they ignore the support that he receives from others. Japanese PM Abe and President Trump have developed a close relationship. America's allies in the Middle East (Egypt, Israel, etc.) prefer him over President Obama by far .... and then there is Russia and China .... where in the case of China they have no problem in dealing with President Trump, and in the case of Russia .... wanting to deal with him ASAP.

Update: When it comes to President Trump .... US Senator McCain is as predictable as they come .... McCain says American leadership was better under Obama: report (The Hill).