At a press conference on Tuesday, the US President said about leaving NATO: “If they don’t help us, it’s certainly something we have to think about.” Geopolitics expert Alexander Görlach sees no concrete willingness to act in Trump’s statements.

“Kamikaze operation”: NATO members refuse to support Trump

“It’s just his attempt to impose his will, as he always does,” says Görlach, a professor at New York University. Leaving NATO was already an issue in Trump’s first term in office. To date he has “not at all understood the mechanisms, necessity and why of NATO.”

At the same time, there is a lack of clear goals in US foreign policy. “If you don’t have any goals, you don’t have a plan,” says Görlach. That allies support in the Iran conflict refuse, therefore be consistent: from their point of view it is a “kamikaze undertaking”.

Is Trump acting without congressional approval? “Wouldn’t be surprising”

Also Trump is moving domestically on thin ice. Although he claimed that he did not need Congress, leaving NATO would hardly be possible without Senate approval. Nevertheless, according to Görlach, Trump has repeatedly bypassed institutions: “Congress has (…) been pushed to the side more than once.” It would therefore “definitely not be surprising” if he acted again without consent.

However, the repeated threats leave their mark on the partners. “If you treat your friends like this, you don’t really need enemies anymore,” warns Görlach. The lack of reliability will “affect the USA long after Donald Trump”.