Trump The Destroyer

Well here we go (again) ....

Trump The Destroyer

This week Trump has threatened to leave NATO, the US led defence organisation that it set up 77 years ago.

Now this isn't the first time he's threatened this. Apparently before his first term he claimed it was a paper tiger and obsolete and costing the US a fortune, and during his first term, he had the speech announcing this very action of US withdrawal already written, but then after a flattering speech by the then NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, he changed his mind and didn't give the speech or pull the US out. 

He basically doesn't understand the nature of the alliance, and continually thinks that the member states are vassal states, obliged to support US military actions, even those that are un-consulted, not defensive and conducted outside of the European and North American theatres. Ironically the only time Article 5, its mutual defence clause, has been triggered, was after the 9/11 attack on the United States, and everyone responded to help the US. Trump apparently doesn't recognise this fact, but berates the alliance members for never helping the US. 

Personally I think Trump will attempt to pull the US out of NATO in this term. He won't have thought this through when he does it, and it will be challenged in Congress, because not all Republicans will support this. According to the National Defence Authorisation Act for Fiscal Year 2024, enacted on 22 December 2023, the US President is prohibited from unilaterally withdrawing from NATO, without approval of a two-third Senate super-majority or an act of Congress, neither of which look attainable. This act was made precisely because people knew how close he came to breaking from NATO in that first term.

You can guarantee that the Democrats will not vote to leave it, nor will every Republican. So whilst such an announcement would cause chaos amongst the alliance, of itself, it certainly wouldn't be guaranteed that the US would actually leave NATO, but Trump rarely lets these sorts of considerations govern his acts. His ideas about MAGA are often the exact opposite of that ambition.

Its not even necessarily going to be a popular action with the US public, because as of late 2025, a poll found 68% of Americans reported a favourable view of NATO, but this support was somewhat partisan in nature, with 91% of Democrats supporting maintaining or increasing the U.S. commitment, compared to only 59% of Republicans. 

However the fact that Trump would seriously consider even making such an announcement, tells you everything you need to know about his predilection for tearing things down, but with no thoughts for the consequences. In this case the very doubt that the US would come to the aid of alliance members if attacked, or withhold the nuclear umbrella, makes the alliance unstable and look unreliable, and effectively it looks like the US doesn't feel bound by its provisions under Trump.

Trump is not a builder of things politically (despite being a building developer by trade), and has proved by his actions inside the USA to be just a destroyer by nature. His Presidential legacy is going to be very mixed and very divisive, and depending upon the next presidential vote result, could even end up with yet another impeachment. However I can guarantee that he certainly won't be forgotten by either the US or the rest of the world ... 

.... and that may be his true legacy.