On the campaign trail, President Trump made no secret about how he would approach a second term: He would get tough with nations around the world, even friends and allies, that he believed were taking advantage of the United States’ economic and military might.
The result — which has seemingly caught many international leaders off guard — has been a fraying of military alliances and aggressive tariffs against America’s closest neighbors.
Gone is the alliance-first foreign policy of past administrations. The first weeks of the second Trump term have taken on the feel of America vs. the world.
“The free world needs a new leader,” Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign policy chief wrote on social media after Mr. Trump clashed with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine in the Oval Office last week. “It’s up to us, Europeans, to take this challenge.”
Now Mr. Trump has imposed tariffs — 25 percent on most imports from Canada and Mexico and two rounds of 10 percent levies on imports from China — which he has said are punishment for their failure to stem the flow of drugs into the United States.
The moves have quickly sparked a trade war: China and Canada retaliated immediately, imposing their own tariffs on U.S. goods on Tuesday. Mexico said it would announce its countermeasures, including retaliatory tariffs, on Sunday.
The list of countries targeted by Mr. Trump has continued to grow. He has mocked Canada as the 51st state and called its prime minister, Justin Trudeau, a “governor.” (As a result, Mr. Trudeau’s low approval risings got a noticeable rise after Mr. Trump targeted the country.)
He has threatened to seize the Panama Canal and annex Greenland from Denmark. He has frozen military aid for Ukraine as the country attempts to fight off a Russian invasion. He has cut off foreign aid that benefits countries throughout Africa, South America and Asia. Now he has imposed tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico.
Some of his many threats may just be that — threats or negotiating tactics — but Mr. Trump has shown a willingness to follow through particularly when it comes to tariffs and withholding foreign aid.
“It means uncertainty, because right now, it isn’t always clear what is a tactic and what is actually meant,” said Nicholas J. Cull, professor of public diplomacy at the University of Southern California. “So it’s very confusing for people, and I suspect that a lot of foreign policy is being played for domestic audiences to get cheers from the base and to keep people uncertain.”
Slightly more Americans approve of Mr. Trump than disapprove after the first weeks in office of his second term, according to averages of polls. He will give a joint address to Congress this evening.
