WASHINGTON — The issue started by President Trump’s wish to own Greenland seems to be over, for now. But the United States and its European allies still have a big, ongoing problem: Can thay fix their relationship?
NATO is 75 years old and has faced problems before, like disagreements about trade and conflicts over wars in Vietnam and Iraq. France even took its military out of NATO for 43 years because it wanted to be autonomous.
But experts say the current problems in the alliance might be worse. Trump’s threats about Greenland made many Europeans believe the United States is an unreliable and possibly hazardous ally.
The problem comes from the president often saying he doesn’t like alliances, especially NATO.
Even before Trump became president, presidents from both parties thought some NATO countries weren’t spending enough on their military.
But past presidents still thought NATO was meaningful for U.S.foreign policy and helped keep peace in Europe for many years.
Trump has never felt this way. even after he got NATO members to spend more on defense, he kept calling them freeloaders.
Until recently, he wouldn’t promise to help defend other NATO countries if they were attacked, which is the main idea behind the alliance. And he said he could leave any agreement, whether it was about military matters or trade, whenever he wanted.
