Trump has repeatedly called on European NATO partners to pay their way in NATO, which has set a target for all member states to commit two percent of GDP being spent on defense. In July, he told the New York Times that the US — under his leadership — might consider not going to the aid of an alliance power under threat that had not paid up its two percent.
"I think that the alliance is in jeopardy. [Trump] seems very clear on his feeling that the situation in NATO has to change and it's likely that he will take advantage of what's going on in Europe to try to manipulate the situation and move for a massive restructuring," Dr. Gina Yannitell Reinhardt, lecturer with permanence at the Department of Government at Britain's University of Essex told Sputnik.
Congratulations @realDonaldTrump. I look forward to working w/ you to strengthen #NATO,keeping Europe & America safe https://t.co/DEoYNgjHGe
— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) November 9, 2016
"It doesn't mean NATO would necessarily fall apart, but it is quite possible that things will change a lot," Dr. Reinhardt said.
In July, Trump told reporters he could work with Russian President Vladimir Putin. "I would treat Vladimir Putin firmly but there's nothing that I can think of that I'd rather do than have Russia friendly — as opposed to the way they are right now — so that we can go and knock out [Daesh] together along with other people and with other countries. Wouldn't it be nice if we actually got along with people?" Trump said.
"[Trump] believes he can work with anybody. He is thoroughly confident in his own abilities to negotiate and to work with people in positions of power, so he does believe he can work with Putin. It's unclear what he wants to do," Dr. Reinhardt told Sputnik.
"He never really said what he thought the position would be with respect to Russia and he didn't really take a stand in terms of what Putin has been doing in the last several months. So we don't know whether he will try to align with Putin, if he would do anything as drastic as leaving NATO. That doesn't seem likely, but it's not out of the realm of possibilities," she said.
Lost Superpower Status
Asked by Sputnik whether Trump's move towards isolationism would make the US a weakened superpower, she replied: "Yes, it will definitely be a weakened superpower under Donald Trump. The issue is the global reaction to this election, which is going to damage the reputation of the US pretty substantially.
"If he is as reckless as he has pledged to be, in terms of trade and security — internationally speaking — and in terms of social policy — domestically speaking — that means several things will happen. One is: there will be more and more countries that no longer look to the US when they need markets for their distressed goods, when they need help economically. There's a danger that the dollar will not be the currency to which other currencies are pegged.
"Part of this is also because of what [Trump] plans to do — or says that he will do — in the United States which is going to have knock-on effects in the other economies around the world. It could create crises, economically-speaking and fuel the idea that the US has lost its superpower status," she said.
