Trump has put America’s allies in an impossible position. That might be where he likes them

President Donald Trump said the US should "take over" Gaza, a proposal that marks a remarkable shift in American foreign policy. Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters

London

CNN

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For two weeks, America’s friends held their tongues. Since his inauguration President Donald Trump had enjoyed a steady stream of warm words — and very little criticism — from leaders in Europe and the Anglosphere who, privately, might bristle at the noise and bombast he brings to the White House

But that accord was never bound to last, and it shattered this week after Trump unleashed perhaps his most provocative foreign policy idea yet: taking Gaza under American control, relocating its Palestinian population, and redeveloping the enclave into the “Riviera of the Middle East.

The suggestion seemed to shred in an instant decades of Western policy-making, darting away from a “two-state solution” model that had been long-established, if glaringly elusive in terms of progress.

Nations rushed to reject it. America’s allies in the region reacted with disbelief and concern about the impact the call would have on live diplomatic efforts, particularly the ongoing ceasefire and hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas. Palestinians have expressed dismay at the prospect of leaving their homeland.

In Europe, where the United States usually enjoys less complicated relationships, leaders varied in tone but were clear in their stance: They do not support this.

Still, Trump has left America’s partners in a difficult spot. Criticizing the US is a last resort for many leaders – doing it so early in a presidential term is fraught with downsides.

“My read is that they’re all gobsmacked. They didn’t see it coming,” Jon B. Alterman said of America’s allies. Alterman, a former US State Department official, is now the director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank

People walk past the rubble of collapsed buildings in the northern Gaza Strip. Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP/Getty Images

There are wider, more diffuse reverberations too. Trump’s history of haphazard geopolitical interventions has already threatened to ideologically isolate the United States, bit by bit, among its global allies. His remarks on Gaza – whether they represent an idea, a plan, or something inbetween – may accelerate that process.

“This administration has not only an instinct but an appetite to be disruptive,” Alterman said. He predicted “a much deeper soul-searching in Europe, about how it wants to engage with a United States that is much more self-absorbed, and much less committed to supporting a multilateral system.”

Trump vs. Europe

Most Western nations are cautious of the unpredictability Trump brings to the White House, but they were more prepared for his second election win than his first.

They expected a test like this. And their responses to Trump’s Gaza plan highlighted how they might more broadly tackle Trump 2.0.

The United Nations was robust, its secretary-general warning Trump against “ethnic cleansing.” France said the proposal would constitute “a serious violation of international law.” (The forced removal of a population is prohibited by the Geneva Convention.) Spain’s foreign minister told radio station RNE that “Gazans’ land is Gaza.” In Western Europe, only Dutch far-right figurehead Geert Wilders broke ranks to endorse the plan. “Let Palestinians move to Jordan. Gaza-problem solved!” he wrote on X.

German President Walter Steinmeier said the suggestion was “unacceptable,” and the country’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said it would “lead to new suffering and new hatred.”

As a career diplomat, my job was always to explain the interests of the US government in the best light possible. President Trump made that a tougher job,” Eric Nelson, Trump’s former ambassador to Bosnia and later the associate director of the German-American Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Munich, told CNN. “It was very hard to anticipate what he was going to do next.”