Trump wird langsam von seinem eigenen Spielbuch zerschlagen: der Kunst des Deals

[*The Traitors*](https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/the-traitors-winner-rachel-ive-been-criticised-as-cold-but-im-strategic-4192238?ico=in-line_link) is all about trust. If [last weekend’s climax](https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/the-traitors-did-something-no-traitor-has-done-before-4189891?ico=in-line_link) told us anything, it’s that trusting wisely leads a player to riches and widespread acclaim. Pick poorly, and you’re banished from the players’ table. Western countries, caught in a similar contest, now face their own endgame.

In the latest round of what we’ll call *The Traitors: International Edition*, Western countries survived the latest roundtable, at which [Greenland was under threat from Donald Trump’s White House](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/navy-seals-arctic-paratroopers-trump-threat-real-4179708?ico=in-line_link). You can almost hear the sighs of relief.

But Western leaders know many rounds still remain. Relief will soon give way to steeling themselves for what comes next. Something important has changed: decades of reliance on the most powerful figure at the table – the US, long seen as a faithful guarantor of safety – have been tested and found wanting.

Individually, Trump’s attacks against allies – threats of tariffs, insulting British troops, downplaying Nato, a photo op with Putin in Alaska last August, sanctioning the International Criminal Court, a public feud with Canada, or setting up a US-led “Board of Peace” – might have been survivable.

Taken together, they have a cumulative effect. The columnist, Matthew Parris, once compared political goodwill to a marshy bog: issue after issue sinks beneath the surface, unseen, until, without warning, the bog is full. Greenland wasn’t the first challenge to allied expectations, but it was the first that refused to sink.

Trump’s playbook – outlined decades ago in *The Art of the Deal* – delivers rapid wins. Opponents often feel lucky to settle for more than they’d ever been willing to give away. Unpredictability and shock produce immediate results, raising the credibility of outcomes previously seen as unthinkable. By his own criteria, the method works.

But these short-term gains come at a cost. Each surprise move erodes trust, the glue which holds alliances together. Greenland wasn’t just a shock – it exposed a pattern that had been quietly wearing down decades of goodwill. Trust is a finite commodity, built over decades but liable to collapse in months – and quick wins draw it down fast.