Alisa Butterwick: Trump – diplomacy is dead amidst threat of US leaving NATO

The looming threat of the US withdrawing from NATO is ever bubbling, and has been since Trump entered the stage in his first term. Trump’s former national security advisor John Bolton, in a recent interview with the Kyiv Independent, described current US-Ukraine relations as an ‘uphill struggle’, and that Trump’s close ties with President Putin ‘could come close to destroying NATO’. Although a mic-drop statement, it is not outside the realms of possibility. 

Bolton is not alone in his opinion. The Danish Defence Intelligence Service (DDIS) released a report in February that the weakening of NATO could be the catalyst for a “large scale war” waged by Russia within the next five years. In December 2024, NATO’s Secretary-General Mark Rutte claimed: “We are not ready for what is coming our way in four to five years”. The possibility of a US ‘Nexit’ is yet another nail in the coffin of the death of contemporary diplomacy. The one man required to remain loyal to peacekeeping is most guilty of betraying it. 

The spoken word is a tool that can simultaneously instigate nuclear war and diffuse the most ardent rivalries. In a climate that houses some of the strongest political personalities, advanced weapons, and sophisticated artificial intelligence, this has never been more apparent. The manipulation of language can produce gross misinformation, yet its calculated crafting can prevent the press of the red button. The art of effective diplomacy is paramount in today’s political landscape, and, sadly, President Trump has not yet mastered its art. 

The world experienced a collective and colossal cringe after the horror of Trump and Zelenskyy’s press conference at the Oval Office. Language, once again, seemed to fail JD Vance, with ‘your mom’ style rebuttals, which featured such corkers as: “Have you even said thank you” and a more insightful, “why don’t you wear a suit” from a reporter bottling his ten seconds of fame. What the conference reiterated was Trump’s formulation of a poisonous narrative rooted in misinformation, weaving it into the discourse of members of his administration. Fixating on sartorial choices rather than longstanding conflict truly reflected a priceless waste of the English language. However, Elon Musk’s dashing baseball cap and T-shirt combo in the Oval Office was the height of professionalism – not to mention haute couture.

The title of ‘President’ seems to be purely a CV-boosting label for Trump. In practice, he is the CEO of a mismanaged global conglomerate, with the sole aim of generating money by building a worldwide corporation. ‘Making America Great Again’ involves the colonisation of Greenland, Canada, and even Gaza as part of his imperialist business plan; ironically relying on the seizing of foreign countries, rather than making America itself ‘great’ to start off with. Language certainly failed Mr. Trump in the laughing stock that is the ‘Gulf of America’, not to mention ‘Trump Gaza’, another cute foible in his expansion business strategy. Maybe this CEO, without knowing it, will bankrupt his own company through a classic bullies’ technique of putting others down to raise one’s own stature?

Whilst most CEOs tend to promote warm stakeholder relations, Trump has ostracised himself from liberal leaders, chumming up instead with the most autocratic ones, whether genocidal dictators or not. Language again failed Trump in his description of Putin as “a great guy” and a “terrific person”; the same ‘great guy’ who routinely breaks humanitarian law and violates ceasefire deals. It is precisely this eerie ‘friendship’ that solidifies Bolton’s claim and accentuates the widespread anxiety of the US leaving NATO. 

“It is not enough to simply be a powerful orator. Increased decibels and ‘shock factor’ rhetoric seldom result in resolution”

Trump seems to be blissfully unaware that impulsivity, such as cutting aid to Ukraine, would hinder his business model. Aid to Ukraine is a deterrent for Russia. As long as the US is involved in the defence of Ukraine, Russia can acknowledge its power. With any turbulence in US-Ukraine relations, Putin will waste no time in taking advantage of this achilles heel. Trump is unpredictable, seemingly allergic to stability, and NATO is rocking on its foundations.

Trump’s promises resemble a metronomic tennis match. First he imposes tariffs, then he halts them. He suspends intelligence sharing with Ukraine, then resumes it. He publicly condemns the rule of unelected bureaucrats in office, unaware of the irony of Elon Musk clapping in support like a performing seal. He advocates freedom of speech, yet compiles an extensive list of banned words and images that promote DE&I initiatives. His imposition of censorship under the guise of freedom is manipulative – hypocrisy is a key element of the Trumpian alphabet. 

To claim Trump is harmless because his words are without substance is dangerous. With such logic, hate speech and death threats can become commonplace. The ‘sticks and stones’ maxim may apply to the child’s playground, but not to the international arena. 

It is not enough to simply be a powerful orator. Increased decibels and ‘shock factor’ rhetoric seldom result in resolution. Actions that uphold human rights whilst maintaining peace are the requirements of a strong politician. Those who shout the loudest often have the least to say, and a big personality does not equate to reliable leadership. Trump’s language is vague and unsophisticated at a time where nuance is crucial. 

READ: Trump and Zelenskyy’s meeting for the everyday American

In the initial days of Trump’s second term, one of his signature phrases was “common sense”. To extract a phrase from his own hymn sheet, Mr. Trump could benefit from ‘drill, baby, drill[ing]’ a little “common sense” into his own head and adopt the language of diplomacy. European leaders now face the task of taming the Motormouth, and Europe’s priority must be the prevention of the breakup of NATO.