How Trump may be causing 'irreparable' damage to 'relationships with our closest allies'

05 April

U.S. President Donald Trump with French President Emmanuel Macron on February 24, 2025 (White House Photo/Flickr)

After President Donald Trump detailed his plans for steep new tariffs on Wednesday, April 2, sharp criticism came from everyone from liberals economists like Paul Krugman and Robert Reich to the Wall Street Journal's conservative editorial board.

Much of the criticism is focusing on the price hikes the tariffs will cause. But when Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell made a Saturday, April 5 appearance on MSNBC, she cited another negative effect the tariffs will have: damaging valuable relationships with longtime U.S. allies.

"So much of the discourse right now has been about the economic pain, which will be real here and abroad," warned Rampell, who was recently hired as a weekend MSNBC host. "You know, we may well have a global recession, not just a domestic recession. But beyond that, the damage we are doing to our relationships with some of our closest friends may be irreparable, right? Those economic ties are important not only because there are mutual gains from trade and both sides get wealthier, but also, because we need our alliances in East Asia, in Europe, in North America — all around the world — when we have crises."

Rampell continued, "(After) 9/11, who came to our aid when we decided to wage war in Afghanistan, but our NATO allies? All of those, all of the building blocks upon which these relationships have been built, are now crumbling because we have shown we are not a reliable partner, economically or otherwise. And the next time we need the cooperation of our friends, I don't know that they're going to come to our aid."

The Post columnist/MSNBC host noted a new economic alliance between two of the United States' "most important" allies in Asia — Japan and South Korea — and Mainland China.

Despite the "friction" between the "three countries," Rampell observed, they came together "in the face of these threats from Donald Trump."

"Trump was able to bring them together against us," Rampell lamented. "And so, who are they going to side with the next time we have some kind of dispute with China? South Korea and Japan, I imagine, are going to be a little bit more reluctant to take our side or trade or anything else even if we're in the right."

Watch the full video below or at this link.

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