Less than two weeks into his second term as U.S. president, Donald Trump has fuelled even more uncertainty for longtime allies, upended the civil service and targeted any dissent in his administration.
That combative approach is likely making one-time friends to the U.S. look elsewhere for stability, a former Trump administration official says.
“It’s making America a less predictable ally,” Anthony Scaramucci, who briefly served as Trump’s White House communications director during his first term, told Mercedes Stephenson in an interview that aired Sunday on The West Block.
He said the tariffs Trump threatened on Canada and Mexico — with threats of more to come for other countries around the world — are just one example of that approach put into practice.
“It’s going to cause places like Canada and Mexico to seek alliances elsewhere, which is going to damage the long-term spirit and goodwill of America,” he said. “America’s built up this goodwill over 80 years, and Donald Trump really wants to break a system that’s worked well.”
Scaramucci spoke to Stephenson alongside British political journalist and analyst Katty Kay, who together co-host The Rest is Politics: US Edition podcast.
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Kay said the actions Trump is taking could have long-lasting effects on America’s standing in the world and even its own security.
“One day, the United States might need Canada, and Canadians won’t forget this,” she said.
While Trump’s first term was also adversarial toward U.S. allies — and Scaramucci was an aggressive spokesperson during his 11-day tenure — he says the difference this time is the lack of people in the administration willing to push back on Trump’s proposals, which Scaramucci said is “dangerous.”
“I think every president needs some people in the room to give them the honest scoop,” he said. “It doesn’t feel like the president has many of those people.”
He pointed to Trump’s White House press briefing on Thursday on the deadly collision between a passenger plane and military helicopter over Washington, D.C., where he was joined by Vice-President JD Vance, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
“The first several sentences (from each of those administration officials) were praising Donald Trump before they shared any other information with the press, and that’s sort of the kabuki dance that you have to do with Donald Trump,” he said.
Kay said Scaramucci’s inability to adequately “speak Trump” inside the White House was “why Anthony only lasted for 11 days,” which Scaramucci agreed with.
Kay added the near-total unity and loyalty of the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress has made it difficult for Democrats to mount an effective counter-message against their policies.
“It looks like two armies that have come in for a battle, and the opposing army had all its weapons ready and had a strategy and an attack plan, and the defending army was caught asleep with their weapons hidden in the ground and no attack plan,” she said.
Scaramucci and Kay both agreed the presence of billionaire Elon Musk in Trump’s inner circle, as well as his efforts to push conservative political movements in Canada and other countries, adds further potential for chaos.
“I think everyone else around the world needs to buckle up, because this is going to be a long four years — a long, crazy, wild four years,” Kay said.
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