Trump posted private text messages – “reckless behavior”

TT

Published 20.07

 

US President Donald Trump, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and French President Emmanuel Macron. Archive images. Photo: AP/TT

When Donald Trump publishes text messages that he has been entrusted with by big players such as the French President and NATO Secretary General, he signals that he does as he pleases.

But it has consequences.

- It is quite reckless behavior, says Anders Lidén, a former UN ambassador with 37 years of experience in diplomacy.

He thinks he sees a pattern in the American president: breaking down institutions and regulations so that he and the US can fully use their power.

- When he puts forward these ideas about a peace council, for example, it is a way of bypassing the UN. When he is aggressive on the Greenland issue, he bypasses NATO and ignores it.

Greater room for maneuver

Even diplomacy, with its many established rules and customs, can be seen as a kind of institution and all that Donald Trump is now violating.

- He doesn't need to worry about humiliating or insulting another person, which is a bit of a stretch to publish what someone else has written, perhaps in confidence, says Lidén.

Trump can do that, because a great power always has more room for maneuver. Representatives of small states must always think about the future and build trust and confidence. But even for a great power, such behavior means that trust is lost, notes Anders Lidén.

- I don't think he thinks that even a great power needs to have relationships with other countries over time and that is what he risks damaging.

The US is challenged

The same applies when Trump disregards international law and international regulations, he emphasizes.

- The US is not becoming stronger internationally, but is being challenged by other powers that can use this, and then the Americans can also be exposed to rule violations that they don't really like.

- I think rules are good for everyone, but it's clear that they are best for the small states. The big ones may not always realize that the rules are good for them too.