“The New Yorker” columnist Susan Glasser on “Washington Week” said President Trump’s criticism of NATO allies during the Iran conflict could damage America’s global standing.

JEFFREY GOLDBERG, ‘ATLANTIC’ EDITOR, ‘WASHINGTON WEEK’ HOST: Right. Whatever he does, he is not going to be doing it with many European allies. The Europeans, of course, as well as Asian countries, more dependent on the oil and gas that flows through. Susan, you wrote this week, America’s friends in Europe ought to take note of what the president said at 6:16 A.M. on Thursday when he started his day by denouncing not only the ayatollahs of the Islamic Republic, but the nations of NATO that have so far refused to join the U.S. in its war on Iran. This is in all caps, The USA needs nothing from NATO, but never forget this very important point in time. I’m not even 100 percent sure I understand what he means by never forget this important point in time. But he’s trolling NATO precisely when he could use some help. It seems like he has more anger at U.S. allies sometimes than he has at the anti-American ayatollahs who run Iran. SUSAN GLASSER, THE NEW YORKER: For sure, or, for example, the leaders of Russia you know, who have now become beneficiaries of this war. And in fact, in many ways, Vladimir Putin is getting — I think it was a $ 38 billion windfall, and that’s even if the war stops in April, which there’s no guarantee that it will, because we’ve allowed, lifted temporarily sanctions on some of its oil in order to ease the pressure in the markets created by Trump’s war. Donald Trump, there’s a through line here, you know it well, you know, he has consistently denigrated America’s allies and its alliances going back to the very beginning of his time in politics. And, you know, my theory of the case is, you know, pay attention to what Donald Trump is fulminating about late at night and early in the morning. That is as close as the world has ever come to a direct pipeline into the id of an American president. Donald Trump has it out for NATO. He has it out for America’s European allies. He continued after that posting to complain about it in a cabinet meeting in increasingly strident terms, again on Friday. We’ll see if he follows through. But I think what you are seeing over the last six months, especially after Donald Trump’s threat to hold out the possibility of using military force against our NATO ally, Denmark, to seize its territory in Greenland, that was a real breaking point for many of America’s partners. It’s remarkable that our partners, both in Europe and Asia, by the way, who were also asked in Japan and South Korea to participate in this conflict, to help open the strait, they all said a very loud no. This is your war, Donald. And I think David’s point about, you know, if we can continue in a sort of limbo here in the Strait of Hormuz, Donald Trump declares victory, walks away, and it’s still not safe for those tankers to go through, the resentment, which was already building up, is going to be enormous. And I think it’s very hard to see a scenario here where this doesn’t represent a big blow to American international power and standing in many ways.

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