January 21, 2026
There’s a fine line between bold diplomacy and dangerous delusion. Donald Trump has crossed it—and our closest allies are now scrambling to respond to what increasingly looks like the erratic behavior of a leader detached from reality.
In the span of just 72 hours, the President of the United States has threatened to impose 200% tariffs on French champagne, shared private diplomatic text messages on social media like a teenager with a grudge, posted AI-generated images of himself conquering Greenland, and invited Vladimir Putin—a war criminal actively decimating Ukraine—to help “reconstruct Gaza.”
This isn’t strategic unpredictability. This is unhinged.
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The Crisis Escalates
According to an exclusive report from Politico, European Union leaders have reached their breaking point. Germany has joined France in preparing to unleash the EU’s most powerful trade weapon—the Anti-Coercion Instrument, dubbed the “trade bazooka”—against the United States if Trump doesn’t walk back his Greenland threats.
Let that sink in. America’s closest allies, nations that have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with us through two World Wars, the Cold War, and countless global crises, are now treating the United States like a rogue actor that needs to be economically contained.
“There is a convergence with the Germans, there’s an awakening on their part, that we have to stop being naive,” a senior French official told Politico. Even traditionally cautious Germany has hardened its position. Chancellor Friedrich Merz made it clear: “We have a set of instruments at our disposal, and we agree that we do not want to use them. But if we have to use them, then we will.”
The trade weapon includes tariffs, restrictions on strategic goods exports, and exclusion of U.S. companies from European tenders. It’s the nuclear option—one that European leaders have previously avoided even when Trump imposed unilateral tariffs during his first term. But this time is different. Trump’s behavior has become so erratic, so disconnected from diplomatic norms, that Europe’s tolerance for American chaos has evaporated.
A Pattern of Dangerous Instability
Trump’s Greenland obsession isn’t happening in isolation. It’s part of a broader pattern of behavior that should alarm every American who values both our international standing and the mental stability of our commander-in-chief.
The President announced a 10% tariff on eight NATO allies—including Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the U.K., Norway, Sweden, and Finland—for the crime of... not supporting his fantasy of seizing Greenland. When that didn’t generate enough chaos, he escalated to threatening 200% tariffs on French wine.
He posted private text messages from Norway’s Prime Minister, mocking diplomatic outreach as if foreign policy were a reality TV show. He shared social media posts claiming that China and Russia are merely “boogeymen” and that the real threats are the United Nations and NATO—the very alliance structure that has preserved peace in Europe for eight decades.
When asked how far he would go to acquire Greenland, Trump responded with characteristic menace: “You’ll find out.”
This is not the conduct of a president engaged in calculated strategic maneuvering. This is the behavior of someone increasingly untethered from reality, someone who views the presidency as a vehicle for personal grievance and ego gratification rather than the solemn responsibility it represents.
Even the Military Is Sounding Alarms
Meanwhile, Trump’s Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has launched an unprecedented attack on Senator Mark Kelly, a retired Navy captain and astronaut, for simply reminding service members of their right to refuse illegal orders. More than 40 former military leaders—including retired four-star generals and admirals who served under both Republican and Democratic administrations—have rallied to Kelly’s defense.
“Disciplining Senator Kelly for engaging in protected, political speech violates the First Amendment and, if permitted to stand, would chill public participation by veterans around the country,” the group stated in a federal court brief.
Think about what this means: Trump’s Defense Secretary is attempting to punish a decorated veteran and sitting U.S. Senator for exercising constitutionally protected speech. This is the behavior of authoritarians, not American leaders.
The Question No One Wants to Ask
Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, captured the European mood perfectly: “They’re perplexed. They’re worried.” He added, “The feeling of crisis that this could actually be—unless Trump is prepared to back down—that this could reflect the end of NATO.”
The end of NATO. Let that register. The most successful military alliance in human history, the bedrock of Western security for nearly 80 years, teetering on the brink because one man cannot control his impulses or distinguish between personal vendetta and national interest.
Trump linked his Greenland obsession to not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, telling Norway’s Prime Minister he no longer felt obliged to “think purely of Peace.” He’s questioned whether NATO would defend the United States—despite Article 5 having been invoked only once in history, in America’s defense after 9/11.
This is not normal. This is not strategy. This is a man spiraling.
A Dangerous Moment
We are witnessing something unprecedented: A sitting U.S. President whose mental fitness is so obviously compromised that our closest allies are preparing economic warfare as a defensive measure. European leaders aren’t preparing tariffs because of policy disagreements—they’re preparing them because they’ve concluded that Trump cannot be reasoned with, that diplomatic norms mean nothing to him, and that protecting their own interests requires treating America like a threat rather than a partner.
Trump’s “penchant for unpredictability”—as The New York Times diplomatically phrased it—has ceased to be a negotiating tactic and become a liability that threatens the entire Western alliance structure.
The question isn’t whether Trump’s behavior is concerning. The question is how much longer we can afford to have someone this unstable controlling American foreign policy, our nuclear arsenal, and our relationships with every ally we have.
European leaders are asking themselves that question right now in Brussels. They’re preparing their “trade bazooka” not because they want to fight America, but because they’ve concluded they have no choice when dealing with a president who seems increasingly detached from reality.
The American people deserve to ask the same question—before it’s too late.
