Trump’s America as a 'frenemy'

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Trump’s America as a 'frenemy'

Published: 29 Jan. 2026, 00:03

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Cha Se-hyeon

The author is an editorial writer at the JoongAng Ilbo.

At the Munich Security Conference in February 2025, U.S. Vice President JD Vance declared the launch of the second Trump administration with a blunt phrase: “There’s a new sheriff in town.” From that moment, he said, Europe and the rest of the world would have to adapt to a new America led by President Donald Trump. A year later, the remark no longer sounds rhetorical. The world is now struggling to adjust to a fundamentally different United States. An American-centered international order that has endured for eight decades since World War II is visibly unraveling.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, on February 14, 2025. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Europe’s NATO alliance is, quite literally, a candle in the wind. Trump has openly sided with Russia, Europe’s adversary, pressing for an end to the war in Ukraine on terms favorable to Moscow. He has urged Kyiv to concede territory and demanded that Europe assume full responsibility for its own security. Faced with pressure far harsher than anything seen during Trump’s first term, European governments reluctantly pledged $600 billion in investment in the United States and committed to raising defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. Yet that was not the end of it. When Trump went so far as to invoke the possibility of military action while threatening Denmark to hand over Greenland, Europe finally awoke to a sobering reality. The United States, still wearing the face of a friend, now revealed itself as a “frenemy,” a partner that could turn adversarial at any moment.

People protest against U.S. President Donald Trump's policy towards Greenland in front of U.S. consulate in Nuuk, Greenland on Jan. 17. [AP/YONHAP]

Allies in Asia found the experience no less exhausting. They were spared the open scorn and humiliation directed at Europe largely because Washington needed their cooperation to counter China, America’s primary rival. Even so, they faced reciprocal tariffs, unilateral demands for U.S.-bound investment, pressure to increase defense spending and a hegemon’s capricious insistence that regional security threats, including North Korea’s nuclear program, be handled on their own. Korea and Japan avoided Trump’s wrath through careful deference and calibrated praise. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi went so far as to nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, while President Lee Jae Myung described him as the only “peacemaker” capable of delivering peace on the Korean Peninsula. Korea was subsequently awarded the label of a “model ally.” The restoration of Shuttle diplomacy between Seoul and Tokyo reflected a sense of inevitable solidarity between leaders worn down by Washington’s unpredictability.

Europe’s NATO members, Asian allies and even Canada in North America have spent the past year reeling. All had long depended on access to the vast U.S. market and on the advanced security system Washington provided after World War II. Now, with no clear alternative in sight, they are bracing themselves and attempting to endure the remaining three years of Trump’s term.

Still, tentative efforts to survive within the new order Trump has imposed are beginning to emerge. What exists so far is little more than solidarity born of shared hardship, but U.S. allies are starting to strengthen ties with one another, as Korea and Japan have done. During a recent visit to Japan, President Lee signaled Korea’s intention to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). The CPTPP was formed by remaining members, including Australia, Canada and Japan, after the United States withdrew from the original Trans-Pacific Partnership during Trump’s first term. With Britain’s accession in 2024, the bloc now comprises 12 economies accounting for roughly 15 percent of global GDP.

Another sensitive shift is taking place in relations with China. Beijing has become unusually busy. Since French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit last December, leaders from Korea, Ireland, Canada and Finland traveled to China in January alone. Visits by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz are scheduled. While U.S. allies are unlikely to align themselves with China outright, Trump’s cold treatment and humiliation of partners have created the paradoxical effect of benefiting Beijing.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, U.S. President Donald Trump, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in conversation at the 2025 NATO Summit in The Hague, Netherlands, on June 25, 2025. [UPI/YONHAP]

Chinese President Xi Jinping appears to be relishing the growing divisions between the United States and its allies. He has welcomed allied leaders with conspicuous warmth, while reminding them to “make a strategic choice to stand on the right side of history.” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who was insulted by Trump as the “governor of America’s 51st state,” moved to repair relations with China following years of tension after the 2018 arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou and declared a “new strategic partnership.” Trump responded by threatening 100 percent reciprocal tariffs, but it remains unclear whether such threats can reverse the trend.

Mark Rutte, the former Dutch prime minister who now serves as NATO secretary general, has earned the dubious reputation of being the embodiment of flattery in Trump’s second term. Addressing the European Parliament recently, he remarked, “If anyone here thinks Europe can defend itself on its own without the United States, keep dreaming.” His words reflected a cold assessment that a fully autonomous European NATO remains unfeasible. Yet history has often been shaped by those who dared to dream. An America increasingly revealing itself as a frenemy is now giving others reason to do just that.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.