Trump’s policies to tackle the Corona virus irritate the Europeans and further isolate Washington from its allies
US President Donald Trump’s policies, his volatile and contradictory stances, especially regarding his administration’s handling of the Corona pandemic crisis, have irked his European allies, causing historic relations between the two sides of the Atlantic to slide to their lowest level.
Trump, who once described the Corona virus as a “hoax” and continued to ignore its seriousness despite the massive outbreaks around the world and its arrival on American soil, was initially forced to take measures that experts confirmed were late in terms of limiting the spread of the virus, but the parallel disaster for its failed handling of the virus was not limited to health and its repercussions on the Americans, it surpassed it, according to the British Guardian newspaper, to “destroy the reputation of the United States globally and create a crisis of trust between Washington and its allies.”
The already deteriorating relations between the United States and Europe are in a “clinical death and resuscitation” as described by the Guardian, which indicated in the context of an article that Trump has insulted Washington’s allies since he took over the US presidency and his policies based on undermining international alliances and imposing sanctions against countries such as Iran China and even European countries are increasing differences globally.
US allies on the second side of the Atlantic have always condoned Trump’s positions and his aggressive and sometimes humiliating statements to them, but the Corona crisis has made relations between the two sides reach, according to the Guardian, a “watershed”, noting that “Trump’s reckless approach has become dangerous from the European viewpoint and the president has turned The American is from someone who cannot be trusted to be a threat. ”
This opinion is closely related to piracy operations in which Washington seized large shipments of respirators and medical equipment directed at allied countries such as Germany and France, which sparked angry and condemning reactions among Europeans, especially since this piracy came after Trump’s attempts to monopolize a vaccine that is developed in Germany against the Corona virus.
Trump’s damage to the United States and its international positions is not limited to what is happening between him and Europe. His policies have aroused the resentment of the Group of Seven and impeded his attempt to issue a joint statement on fighting the virus and caused his insistence to continue the policy of sanctions against countries that are not subject to his dictates impeding international action and the efforts made by In order to tackle the virus.
The Guardian also indicated Trump’s misinformation about the virus and his insistence on arguing with scientists and health experts who disagree with his views and hypocrisy by claiming he refused foreign aid to confront Corona and secretly requested such aid from his allies in Asia and Europe.
Professor of International Relations at Harvard University, American Stephen Walt stressed in this context that the Trump administration responded to the Corona virus in a selfish and indiscriminate manner, which would cost Americans thousands of lives and trillions of dollars that could have been avoided.
Amid the US administration’s flop in dealing with the global pandemic, Americans pay a heavy bill for Trump’s policies. The number of deaths due to the virus has exceeded 22,000 cases, while news of racial discrimination and its effects on black Americans have come to light in light of Corona’s front pages of newspapers and media around the world.
Haifaa Mafalani