{"id":246812,"date":"2025-02-26T00:53:16","date_gmt":"2025-02-26T00:53:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/26\/under-trump-americas-new-friends-russia-north-korea-and-belarus\/"},"modified":"2025-02-26T00:53:16","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T00:53:16","slug":"under-trump-americas-new-friends-russia-north-korea-and-belarus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/26\/under-trump-americas-new-friends-russia-north-korea-and-belarus\/","title":{"rendered":"Under Trump, America\u2019s New Friends: Russia, North Korea and Belarus"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/25\/multimedia\/25dc-assess1-jgcf\/25dc-assess1-jgcf-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Under Trump, America\u2019s New Friends: Russia, North Korea and Belarus\" title=\"Under Trump, America\u2019s New Friends: Russia, North Korea and Belarus\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">If the old saying is true, that you are known by who your friends are, then President Trump may be telling the world something about who he plans to be in this second term.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In a move that redrew the international order, Mr. Trump this week had the United States <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/24\/world\/middleeast\/us-un-russia-ukraine-war.html\" title=\"\">vote against a U.N. General Assembly resolution<\/a> condemning Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine on the third anniversary of the war.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Among the countries that Mr. Trump joined in siding with Russia? North Korea, Belarus, Syria and Sudan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Those he stood against? Britain, France, Germany, Canada, Italy, Japan and most of the rest of the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It would be hard to think of a starker demonstration of how radically Mr. Trump is recalibrating America\u2019s place in the world after barely a month back in office. He is positioning the United States in the camp of the globe\u2019s chief rogue states in opposition to the countries that have been America\u2019s best friends since World War II or before.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The fracturing of the U.S. bond with its traditional allies carries profound implications for the future of American foreign policy. Even as leaders from Poland, France and Britain are heading to Washington this week to try to lure Mr. Trump back into the fold, they and their compatriots face the reality that he does not share their values or see their priorities being in concert with American interests.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">If the United States is going to align itself with international outcasts like Russia and the others, it could force Europe, Canada and Asian allies like Japan and South Korea to go their own way and look elsewhere for alliances. At the same time, Mr. Trump\u2019s deference to Moscow has allowed Russia out of the diplomatic isolation chamber that Washington and the West sought to construct in the three years since its full-fledged invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cTrump is transparently and unabashedly doing Russia\u2019s bidding in this and many other ways, aligning the U.S. with our adversaries and against our treaty allies,\u201d said Susan E. Rice, who served as President Barack Obama\u2019s ambassador to the United Nations and later his national security adviser. \u201cWe all have to ask ourselves why?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">European leaders were stunned and flummoxed by the U.S. vote at the U.N. General Assembly on Monday as well as the American push for an alternate resolution through the Security Council that did not blame Russia for the invasion. On that measure, the United States, China and Russia voted together while Britain, France and other European nations abstained.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI was deeply troubled by the vote at the U.N. today which put us on the same side as Russia and North Korea,\u201d Senator John Curtis, Republican of Utah, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SenJohnCurtis\/status\/1894187410872746197\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">wrote on social media<\/a>. \u201cThese are not our friends. This posture is a dramatic shift from American ideals of freedom and democracy. We all want an end to the war, but it must be achieved on terms that ensure Ukraine\u2019s sovereignty and security and that deter Putin from pursuing further territorial ambitions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Representative Don Bacon, Republican of Nebraska, expressed consternation that the president would take the side of the invader. \u201cThe Trump Administration royally screwed up today on Ukraine,\u201d <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RepDonBacon\/status\/1894249299707380128\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">he said online.<\/a> \u201cThe vast majority of Americans stand up for independence, freedom and free markets, and against the bully and invader.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Trump\u2019s advisers argue that he is initiating a complicated, sensitive negotiation to end the war and that those criticizing him for adopting Russia\u2019s talking points must oppose an end to the violence in Ukraine. The last president, Joseph R. Biden Jr., did not make peace, therefore Mr. Trump\u2019s approach must be better, or so the reasoning goes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe president knows how to make a deal better than anyone who has ever assumed the office of the American presidency, and in order to make a deal, you have to bring both sides to the table,\u201d Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said at her briefing on Tuesday. \u201cAnd typically when you make a good deal, both sides leave that table a little bit unhappy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But if the goal was not to alienate President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia as Mr. Trump seeks an agreement, he has demonstrated no reticence about alienating the person on the other side of the war, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. While declining to criticize Mr. Putin or Russia, Mr. Trump has falsely claimed that Ukraine <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/19\/world\/europe\/trump-zelensky-ukraine-comments.html\" title=\"\">\u201cstarted\u201d<\/a> the war and called the popularly elected Mr. Zelensky a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/19\/world\/europe\/ukraine-zelensky-trump-russia-war.html\" title=\"\">\u201cdictator without elections.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The United States has rarely found common cause with the likes of North Korea and Belarus on questions of major importance while stiff-arming Britain and France. A <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Report-Voting-Practices-of-UN-Members-2022.pdf\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">State Department report in 2023<\/a> found that among the countries that the United States voted with most often at the United Nations that year were Canada, Britain, Australia and France. The countries that United States was most at odds with on contested U.N. votes included Syria, Nicaragua, Iran, North Korea, China, Cuba, Belarus and Russia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The main area where the United States typically finds itself at odds with its major allies is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, where America mostly has stood against U.N. resolutions criticizing Israel even as European nations more often vote for them. Past diplomats at the U.N. said they could not recall a time when the United States had joined Russia and other outlier states on a question of such importance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWhen I was U.N. ambassador, had I received instructions from the State Department and White House to hang our European allies out to dry and vote with the axis of autocrats, including Russia, North Korea and Belarus, I would have concluded that the Russians had hacked and corrupted our communications systems,\u201d Ms. Rice said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Trump evinces no concern about being left outside the global consensus. <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/24\/us\/politics\/trump-macron-ukraine.html\" title=\"\">He hosted President Emmanuel Macron of France<\/a> this week without evident rancor even as the visiting leader tried to gently coax him into being more wary of Russia and more willing to defend Ukrainian security. Mr. Trump smiled and shook hands and seemed thoroughly unmoved.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He will host Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain on Thursday at the White House for another session that will <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/23\/world\/europe\/france-uk-trump-macron-starmer.html\" title=\"\">further test the new reality of the Atlantic alliance<\/a> as the British leader seeks to convey the importance Europe attaches to standing together with the United States. But European officials are not holding out great hope for success.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The reality is that Mr. Trump is not offended by leaders like Mr. Putin and Kim Jong-un of North Korea. He has always expressed admiration for autocrats. On the wall of his office at Mar-a-Lago after he left the White House in 2021, he happily hung a picture of himself with Mr. Kim, a ruthless dictator whose government is <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/reports\/2023-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices\/north-korea\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">accused by the State Department<\/a> of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrest, torture, repression, coerced abortion and forced sterilization, among other human rights abuses.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Other presidents have made common cause with unsavory characters and countries in realpolitik concessions to national interests, but generally without much enthusiasm and not usually at the expense of close allies. And Mr. Trump is willing to go further than most of his predecessors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">During a news conference with Mr. Macron, the president brought up Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia. The C.I.A. has called the prince a killer, reporting that <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/02\/26\/us\/politics\/jamal-khashoggi-killing-cia-report.html\" title=\"\">he ordered the brutal murder and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi<\/a>, a Washington Post columnist. Mr. Trump called the prince \u201ca fantastic young guy\u201d who is \u201ctremendously respected all over the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Trump has had no such laudatory words lately for Mr. Zelensky, the embattled leader of a democracy invaded by a dictatorship. Ukraine is not part of the U.S. alignment, as Mr. Trump envisions it. While the United States was the only Group of 7 country to vote against the U.N. resolution, Mr. Trump is effectively assembling a new club, one with chapters in Moscow, Minsk and Pyongyang instead of London, Paris and Berlin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/25\/us\/politics\/trump-diplomacy.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If the old saying is true, that you are known by who your friends are, then President Trump may be telling the world something about who he plans to be in this second term. In a move that redrew the international order, Mr. Trump this week had the United States vote against a U.N. General [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":246813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/25\/multimedia\/25dc-assess1-jgcf\/25dc-assess1-jgcf-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[11226,19560,163575,165194,2169,1359,17875,1358,209,202,52,1130,7204,128437,128440,34139,8774],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246812"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246812"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":246814,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246812\/revisions\/246814"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}