Washington Post foreign policy columnist Josh Rogin on Friday said that President Donald Trump's reported threats to withdraw from both the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the World Trade Organization are terrifying America's longtime allies.
In particular, traditional European allies such as the U.K., France and Germany are utterly baffled that Trump seems to think that the United States designed a global alliance system for the sole purpose of letting other countries rip off American citizens.
"I spent a week in Europe, and let me tell you: They're freaked out," he said. "They don't understand why the president doesn't understand the value of the alliances and what they bring to the table. And when your allies are freaked out and your enemies are very happy, you're doing it wrong!"
Rogin noted that Russia, in particular, seems to be the country that is most gleeful about the president's attacks on global economic and military alliances.
"It is also a glaring... fact that all of these positions track with the opinions of Russian President Vladimir Putin," he said. "We don't know why he agrees. I'm not going to speculate on that. It is either a huge coincidence or there is a good reason why all of these strategic moves feed Russian national security interests and align with Putin's personal views."
Rogin didn't pull any punches when discussing the implications of what Trump's views mean for the international order.
"That is a huge windfall for Russia," he said. "That is a huge blow to our allies."
Watch the video below.
