'Threatens his allies rather than Russia': Historian Timothy Snyder slams Trump amid tensions with NATO
President Donald Trump's relationship with U.S. allies has been shaky at best throughout the war in Iran. Trump recently met NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and reportedly expressed his displeasure over the lack of support from his European allies in the Iran war. The alleged tendency of the President to go after his allies instead of adversaries like Russia was pointed out by Yale historian Timothy Snyder, who accused Trump of using the war to lift sanctions off of Russia and of trying to "prop up" Russian president Vladimir Putin.
"Notice that after losing the war, Trump threatens his allies rather than Russia—even though Russia quite literally helped Iran defeat the US and he knows it," Snyder wrote in a lengthy post on X. In his recent closed-door meeting with Rutte, who is working to defuse tensions between the U.S. president and NATO, Trump reportedly couldn't get over the European allies' refusal to allow the U.S. access to military bases for striking Iran. Citing diplomats with knowledge of the discussion, Reuters reported that Trump focused little on anything else as he felt betrayed by the allies who barred the U.S. military from using the bases.
Furthermore, according to the sources, Trump demanded concrete commitments from the 32-member transatlantic alliance within days to help secure the Strait of Hormuz. Speaking in Washington a day after meeting with Trump, Rutte admitted that NATO members were initially "a bit slow" to assist the U.S., but now there is a "massive amount" of support, including basing and logistics. "Nearly without exception, allies are doing everything the United States is asking. They have heard and are responding to President Trump’s requests," Rutte said in his speech.
Snyder further claimed that the real reason why Trump is targeting allies is to help Russia in other ways. "Trump used the Iran War as a pretext to lift energy sanctions on Russia, and even personal sanctions on individual Russians. Does anyone expect those to be reimposed? Of course not," Snyder wrote. The Trump administration issued a 30-day waiver for countries to buy sanctioned Russian oil and petroleum products that were stranded at sea, to stabilize the global crude oil market after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping lane. The waiver was reportedly signed after a call between Trump and Putin and a subsequent visit by Russia's special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, to the U.S. to discuss the energy crisis with a U.S. delegation.
Thus, Syder alleged that Trump's policies will continue to help Putin, no matter what. "No matter what else is going on, the one predictable thing about any Trump policy is that he will find a way to prop up Putin and his fascist regime," he concluded in his post. This comes as Dmitriev is currently on another visit to the U.S. and is meeting members of the Trump administration to discuss a peace deal for Ukraine and U.S.-Russia economic operations, and the extension of the sanctions waiver could also be on the agenda, sources told Reuters.
