Trump in Traditional American NATO Criticism: Break or Continuity?
Scientific article
2025
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Trump in Traditional American NATO Criticism: Break or Continuity?
Donald Trump has spent ten years in U.S. politics criticizing the NATO alliance. Some view his criticism as principled, indicating that Trump is perpetually on the verge of leaving the alliance. Others contend that the criticism is pragmatic, where Trump only gives the impression that the alliance is in danger to pressure allies to increase their defense budgets. In this article, I explore Trump’s view of NATO by placing his criticism in traditional U.S. criticism of the alliance, where both pragmatic and principled objections have long ideational histories. I find that Trump’s view is neither purely principled nor pragmatic and thus transcends traditional categories. Trump’s view of NATO ties in with a larger principled and personal worldview where the United States has been disadvantaged by its leaders and allies alike. To Trump, security, peace, and sovereignty are not main concerns in the NATO debate. Further, burden-sharing is not an independent objective. Rather, Trump’s criticism of NATO is part of his performative concept of greatness. Vis-à-vis NATO allies, this means continually shifting U.S. demands, at times grounded in performative rather than real concerns, and it means continuing uncertainty for allies regarding the effects of complying with U.S. demands.
Donald Trump has spent ten years in U.S. politics criticizing the NATO alliance. Some view his criticism as principled, indicating that Trump is perpetually on the verge of leaving the alliance. Others contend that the criticism is pragmatic, where Trump only gives the impression that the alliance is in danger to pressure allies to increase their defense budgets. In this article, I explore Trump’s view of NATO by placing his criticism in traditional U.S. criticism of the alliance, where both pragmatic and principled objections have long ideational histories. I find that Trump’s view is neither purely principled nor pragmatic and thus transcends traditional categories. Trump’s view of NATO ties in with a larger principled and personal worldview where the United States has been disadvantaged by its leaders and allies alike. To Trump, security, peace, and sovereignty are not main concerns in the NATO debate. Further, burden-sharing is not an independent objective. Rather, Trump’s criticism of NATO is part of his performative concept of greatness. Vis-à-vis NATO allies, this means continually shifting U.S. demands, at times grounded in performative rather than real concerns, and it means continuing uncertainty for allies regarding the effects of complying with U.S. demands.
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