(BBC) Threat US could abandon alliances would be potentially history-defining [View all]

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c8jke9v9xv9t
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09:30

The main thing I took from that news conference with Hegseth and Caine was how erratic the Trump administration is in its relationship with the US’s traditional allies.

Over the last 3 weeks, as Iran took control of the Strait of Hormuz, the administration has whipsawed from asking Nato and European allies for help, to saying it doesn’t need any help, to accusing them of disloyalty, to saying the requests for help were a “test”, to now increasingly angrily demanding allies go and reopen it themselves, implying it’s not America’s problem.

This comes with a threat that the US could abandon its alliances, which would be a potentially history-defining shift.
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((Hegseth)) “A lot has been laid bare. A lot has been shown to the world about what our allies would be willing to do for the United States of America... the president is pointing out you don’t have much of an alliance if you have countries that are not willing to stand with you when you need them,” he said.
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