Not even a president as brutal and domineering as Trump can ignore the balance of power. He has suddenly become aware of the dangers ahead, which is why he has stated that Ukraine could ultimately win this war and declared that he would not allow the Israeli Prime Minister to annex the West Bank.

In the space of three days, Trump has labelled Russia a ‘paper tiger’ and distanced himself from Netanyahu. He has backtracked on the two most pressing global issues, and the reason is that he has been forced to do so by Vladimir Putin, who he claims ‘let him down’.

Not only did the Russian president reject the compromise Trump had proposed on Ukraine, he also cheered at the impressive military parade organised by China this summer. Trump had planned to allow Putin to win in Ukraine in order to distance him from China, but what do we see now?Sino-Russian ties are not getting not looser but stronger. Even worse, the president’s only real diplomatic success — the peace agreements between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain — was threatened by Israeli plans to annex the West Bank.

The Emirates told him that if he let this happen, the Abraham Accords would be dead. Saudi Arabia went even further by placing itself under Pakistan’s nuclear protection, signalling its readiness to break with Washington. It seemed that the United States was about to lose its foothold in the Arab world after being duped by Moscow. Donald Trump therefore had no choice but to backtrack.

However, as Poland was quick to point out, this does not mean that the United States is going to fight alongside Ukraine against Russia. Nor does it mean that they will recognise Palestine and work towards a two-state solution. Rather, it may signal a distancing of the United States from Ukraine, leaving Ukraine to rely solely on Europe. However, the conclusion to be drawn from these reversals is that Donald Trump cannot do whatever he wants, ‘America’s greatness’ notwithstanding.

With his back against the wall, he must weigh up the pros and cons of not trying to cut corners, like everyone else. China had already demonstrated this by not giving in to the White House’s tariff threats. Brazil may now be doing the same, and Europe should definitely not feel obliged to give in to everything Trump wants.

Europe began to resist Trump when it accompanied Volodymyr Zelensky to Washington on 18 August to stand shoulder to shoulder with him. That was the moment when Europe began to influence America’s evolution on Ukraine. Yet Trump still needs to realise that America will soon be sorely lacking in allies.

With delicate relations with Canada and almost all of Latin America, being viewed with suspicion in their Arab and Asian spheres of influence and being the target of widespread resentment since declaring a trade war on the rest of the world, the United States are becoming increasingly isolated. The world is seeking to reorganise itself without them. China is positioning itself as a force for order and moderation. Support for Ukraine is mobilising a large number of European democracies. America will soon need friends to stand up to China. Even before our common defence has taken shape, this gives us Europeans the opportunity to make our political, commercial, and military demands heard.

In fact, we have just witnessed France, Great Britain and several other European countries reach an agreement with the Gulf monarchies to encourage the United States to take action in the Middle East. Since the affirmation of the Sino-Russian axis, Donald Trump has realised that he simply cannot go around this Europe which he so despises.

Photo : Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff @Flickr