Trump torches allies as Iran exposes limits of hard power
President Trump has a new rule for America's partners: Cross him in one theater, and the consequences will follow you into the next.
Why it matters: Trump has spent his second term battering U.S. allies , humiliating their leaders and using decades-old security relationships to settle personal and political scores.
The Iran war has only deepened those impulses: Trump is growing angrier at allies that stayed out of the conflict — and punishing them as he struggles to end it.
Zoom in: South Korea — recently hailed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as a "model ally" — is the latest and most surprising casualty in Trump's retribution campaign.
On Sunday, Trump ordered the Pentagon to "substantially reduce" the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises , citing their cost and his "very good relationship" with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
The joint drills have served for half a century as a pillar of the deterrence architecture binding Washington and Seoul against a nuclear-armed North Korea.
Trump noted in his Truth Social announcement that he "recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, 'No thanks!'" "We can't go around and protect all of these countries, especially when they're not there to help us," he told reporters Monday.
Zoom out: For years, Europe has borne the brunt of Trump's assault on American alliances.
As the Iran war has widened those transatlantic fractures, his pressure campaign has taken on a more systematic form.
Bloomberg reports the Pentagon has sent NATO allies a survey probing their loyalty to Trump's foreign policy as it weighs where to keep — or withdraw — U.S. troops.
The questionnaire ranges from support for U.S. operations and military access to weapons purchases.
Most pointedly, it asks whether each country has "shown alignment" with the Trump administration's approach to foreign policy.
Between the lines: Allies that have departed from that submissive posture have already paid a price.
The Pentagon moved in May to withdraw roughly 5,000 troops from Germany after Chancellor Friedrich Merz publicly savaged Trump's Iran strategy.
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