Macroscope | Donald Trump has a friend in Japan, even as the trade war puts US alliances to the test
- America’s relations with its allies will be sorely tested by the economic fallout of the escalating trade war, which increasingly shows the US president is mistaken in believing China will cave in quickly when under pressure
Having shunned alliances at the national level, the US leader needs personal allies wherever and whenever he can find them, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is offering Trump not just a deck to land on but one of the few shoulders he can cry on if things go wrong.
He has blundered into confrontation with China with all the aplomb and finesse of a circus elephant seizing a trick cycle and attempting to ride it across a swaying tightrope. There is no safety net and the collateral damage to the dismayed audience could be severe.
As this economic fallout gathers pace, the US leader will find the already slim ranks of his allies among heads of state thinning even further, so much so that, by the time the G20 summit comes around next month, he may feel that the meeting will be an uncomfortable confrontation.