Less than a month into Donald Trump’s second presidential term, we’ve seen a deluge of extreme, coercive tariffs and economic threats to bolster Trump’s anti-immigration, anti-drug goals. Although a strengthened border and curtailing of deadly drug smuggling are by no means bad objectives, Trump’s particular visions of these objectives and his means of implementing them have proved ignominious. By strongarming other nations with frivolous tariffs and economic threats, Trump is not only weakening our standing with some of our best trade partners and allies but also degrading the potency of U.S. economic negotiating power.

Some of Trump’s upcoming 25% steel and aluminum import tariffs are a return to his first-term economic policy, which will likely, as they then did, upset both U.S. metal-importing manufacturers and our most significant sources of those materials: Canada, Mexico and Brazil. Trump is also planning on new “reciprocal tariffs,” which he says will involve a relatively simple “if they charge us, we charge them” policy (according to a CNN report), but has been somewhat opaque on the finer details of his concepts of a plan. It’s also unclear if this new suite of tariffs will be a permanent part of Trump’s economic policies or is another attempt at economic wrangling among the international community.

Although such tariffs may already be readily criticized for their lackluster results in bolstering domestic production, tending instead to drive up consumer costs and antagonize our trade partners, Trump’s particular use of tariffs has proved costly in other ways. After having menaced Canada and Mexico into marginally expediting their immigration control plans, Trump has called the agreements reached in avoidance of his 25% tariffs “not good enough,” per Fortune magazine, and will likely be seeking further concessions from our neighbors by the end of the 30-day pause period that has halted the tariffs’ implementation. Trump’s vague gesturing toward further sanctions and economic troublemaking are challenging to unpack partly because they are so imprecise. Without understanding what specific measures he wants to implement and sidelining the nations involved rather than cooperating to find a timely solution, Trump is setting himself up for nothing more than the continued flummoxing of our foreign allies.

The Trump White House has framed the tariff measures around national safety and border security, with the president supposedly “keeping his promise to stop the flood of illegal aliens and drugs” as said in an official press release. It’s worth noting that drugs seized at the Canadian crossings account for less than 1% of fentanyl seized at the U.S. border, as reported by the Washington Post. Given this, the true motivations behind Trump’s domineering treatment of Canada are somewhat confused, as are the precise results that Trump seeks from his policies. What Trump has made abundantly clear, however, is that he doesn’t seek cooperation in his immigration and drug control policies but is ready to accept his particular demands. When he faced resistance while seeking to deport over 200 migrants using U.S. military forces just last month, similar tariff threats to those used on Canada and Mexico forced Colombia into accepting the flights.

Trump’s extreme economic aggression, coupled with his flippant demeanor in suggesting things such as the U.S. purchase and/or annexation of Greenland and the Panama Canal, has proved troublesome for U.S. allies as much as our competitors. In Europe, many nations have recently signaled a desire to move away from American-dominated defense structures, particularly among NATO countries. However, much of this has been driven by Russian aggression in Ukraine and the need for stronger security measures. As a result, this shift has been particularly potent over the past month, with “anxiety … mounting that [Trump] might … once again refuse to defend European allies who do not boost their military budgets,” according to Vision of Humanity. The move away from the current dynamic of U.S. paternalistic defense is a troubling sign for the future of U.S. hegemony in the Western sphere of influence.Besides these antagonizing policies, Trump has also displayed his irreverent attitude in addressing the roles of our neighbors and partners in finding beneficial outcomes for Trump’s border and economic policies. Trump’s jokes about “Governor Trudeau” of the “great state of Canada” on his right-wing social media platform Truth Social, while unserious, have shown his utter disregard for the dignity and esteem of other nations. It’s difficult to imagine any good coming from a president with such a total lack of decorum and reverence, especially while one of our greatest strengths against the empowering of China and Russia has remained our solid alliances and open trade policies. Between these remarks and the isolationist tendencies of Trump’s economics, the president’s policies appear dead set on revoking America’s respect and standing among our closest allies.