How 'America First' Became 'America Alone'

"Those allies aren't exactly jumping at the chance to join Trump's war on Iran- not a single one has taken the offer. That leaves the president trapped in a needless war of choice that he started and is unable to finish. Iran's leverage over the global economy is increasing as oil prices rise and the strait remains closed to the U.S. and its allies."

"Now, basically anyone could have told Trump that spending the past few years antagonizing allies with aggressive tariffs, belligerent arm-twisting, and imperial dismissiveness would hurt him when the time came to ask those same allies for help. But this isn't a simple strategic miscalculation or even a typical Trumpian incompetence-it's the result of a particular ideological fantasy of American independence from foreign alliances."

"Americans are learning the hard way that the economic costs of the autarky pursued by Trump are far worse than those of the "globalism" he opposes. Life is more complicated than that, especially when you're trying to make war on a state that can close a strategic waterway that is crucial to the world."

President Trump has spent years criticizing American allies as freeloaders while pursuing isolationist policies through tariffs and dismissive rhetoric. When seeking their assistance to open the Strait of Hormuz against Iran, no allies accepted the offer. This strategic failure stems from Trump's ideological commitment to American independence from foreign alliances, ignoring how these relationships historically served U.S. interests. The economic costs of pursuing autarky prove far greater than the globalism Trump opposes. The situation illustrates that international relations require mutual obligations and responsibilities, not unilateral independence. Iran's control over this critical waterway increases its leverage as oil prices rise, leaving Trump trapped in a self-created conflict he cannot resolve alone.

Read at The Atlantic