British spy organization MI6 has reportedly warned UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer that Donald Trump’s second White House was a cross between the Salem Witch Trials and Henry VIII’s court.
The administration ‘is The Crucible meets Wolf Hall,’ MI6 said in a classified assessment obtained by the Wall Street Journal, referring to a play about the Salem Witch Trials and a book about a courtier of the infamous British monarch.
MI6 told staff to avoid bringing up Trump with their counterparts in the CIA.
Another European assessment apparently decried the unpredictability of US policy during Trump’s second term.
‘You are not dealing with an administration that has processes, you are dealing with a single volatile individual,’ the second intelligence agency said.
Canada under the leadership of new PM Mark Carney, was instrumental in helping Western nations reconsider how to approach their alliances with the US, the Journal reported.
The reporting comes as all 32 NATO member states convene in Ankara, Turkey, for a summit that will test the alliance.
Trump has frequently spoken ill of NATO, which was established in the aftermath of WWII to form a united front against the threat of Soviet Russia.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, pictured during a Monday event, received the MI6 report relating the White House to a book on the Salem Witch Trials
Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday
According to the Journal’s report, CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s agents won’t hear from MI6 about the President
Besides repeatedly disparaging many member states for their unwillingness to increase defense spending, Trump has threatened to leave the alliance entirely.
During this term, the President’s remarks on Greenland alarmed European leaders, as he suggested everything from tariffs to military action if Denmark did not cede control of the island to the US.
The US’s war on Iran has added to the tension.
In response, European countries have tried to decrease their dependence on American goods, services, and military protection.
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has kept up a steady effort to keep the US involved in Europe, maintaining that the US is necessary for Europe to thrive.
A favorite tactic of Rutte’s in dealing with Trump is flattery.
MI6 warned that that strategy was ‘subject to the law of diminishing returns,’ the Journal reported.
The White House characterized Trump’s pressure on Europe as a good thing.
‘President Trump has effectively restored America’s standing on the world stage, and he has done more for NATO than anyone else,’ White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement to the Daily Mail.
‘The President has a very good relationship with Secretary General Rutte, President Erdogan, and many of our NATO partners, but he also believes that some NATO members should do much more to fulfill their obligations.’
