Trump is damaging, wrong and offensive – and yet we must not turn our backs on the US
(Associated Press / Alamy)
3 min read
January marks 80 years since, in the rubble of the Blitz, representatives from across the world gathered in Methodist Central Hall here in Westminster for the first meeting of the United Nations General Assembly.
A church, whose crypt had been one of the largest air raid shelters in London, in the centre of a city ravaged by war was an ideal symbolic location for the first meeting of an organisation whose sole purpose was to prevent the same happening again.
In the aftermath of two world wars, we stood together and said: never again. We pushed for multilateralism and established alliances like the UN and Nato. Alliances that have stood the test of time, and weathered all the crises.
But 80 years later, it feels like these alliances are more at risk than they have perhaps ever been.
We have a US president who believes international law has nothing to do with him, who continues to threaten the sovereignty of a Nato ally, and now looks to be building a rogues’ gallery alternative to the UN with a $1bn membership fee.
While I am a strong believer that what Donald Trump says should be taken seriously but not literally, his belligerent statements that he must ‘have’ Greenland are causing alarm among America’s friends – and rightly so.
His claim that Nato has never done anything for the US, repeated again at Davos last week, is not just wrong – it’s deeply offensive. Offensive to the more than 450 British troops that died in Afghanistan. Offensive to every nation who sent men and women to support the US when they asked for help in the wake of 9/11.
As Trump now threatens Greenlandic and Danish sovereignty, he would do well to remember that when the US asked for help, when they invoked Article 5 of the Nato treaty for the first and only time, the nation who suffered the greatest casualties per capita was Denmark. But as an ally to the US, they answered the call.
It’s alliances like Nato that remain essential in standing up to Russia and its collapse will only embolden Putin
Given all that, it is understandable that people may wonder whether this is the end of global alliances like Nato. Or perhaps, whether it should be the end of them.
I say, keep calm, breathe. We need Nato. It will survive. It’s alliances like Nato that remain essential in standing up to Russia and its collapse will only embolden Putin. Without Nato, and without the US’ support, our ability to defend Ukraine becomes much, much harder.
Some have also called for this to be a catalyst for moving away from our close relationship with the US and instead move closer toward the EU. But the two should not be mutually exclusive. I say this as a passionate believer in having a closer relationship with the EU, but just as I found myself arguing during the UK-EU summit in May last year – that doesn’t need to come at the expense of our relationship with the US.
We really shouldn’t be grandstanding in Parliament, or on social media, saying we must turn our backs on the US. The Prime Minister has been clear that we can stand up to Trump without wrecking the relationship between the two nations.
We can say, ‘No, you can’t just take over another country because you feel like it.’ And, ‘No, we won’t yield to pressure. We stand firm.’
To overreact now will only make the risk of these alliances splintering a reality. They are precious and we have a duty to protect them.
Emily Thornberry is the Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury, and chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee
