Trump’s foreign policy of coercion risks US global standing, analyst says

President Donald Trump's approach to foreign policy, characterized by threats of tariffs and conditioning of aid, risks undermining the United States' global standing, according to analyst Mira Rapp-Hooper. In one instance, Trump threatened significant tariffs or trade cessation with Europe if the European Union were to make Canada its first-ever "associate member."

More significantly, Trump's administration faced scrutiny when it was revealed that the president had pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden. The White House released a record of the call between Trump and Zelensky, which suggested a quid pro quo: the restoration of military aid to Ukraine in exchange for an investigation into a political rival. Rapp-Hooper argues that this was not only an abuse of presidential power but also an abuse of American power, which could have lasting consequences.

Rapp-Hooper posits that while the United States has historically used its coercive power in a disciplined manner, allowing it to promote its agenda abroad with less international resistance, Trump's actions represent a departure from this principle. She contends that a United States that engages in flagrant and arbitrary coercion of its partners will struggle to maintain its commanding position in a world where rivals like China are eager to establish global rules. The distribution of power in international politics, she notes, has always favored stronger states, but this position is a privilege that requires the wielded authority to be used with subtlety and excesses to be corrected.