President Trump vowed he would put “America First” in world affairs, but much of what he did rocked the world's boat and left the U.S. more alone.
The U.S. "is less admired, less respected and less feared than it needs to be, given how consequential a power we are," said Aaron David Miller, a Middle East adviser to former Republican and Democratic presidents.
Miller credits Trump with speeding up the dismantling of the Islamic State's caliphate in Iraq and Syria, as well as preventing new wars. "There are fewer Americans dying in these conflicts," said Miller, now at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Miller and other analysts assessed Trump's achievements elsewhere around the globe as muddled to harmful.
• Pulled out of international trade agreements
On his first official workday in office last year on Jan. 23, Trump pulled the U.S. out of a major trade pact negotiated by President Barack Obama with 11countries that border the Pacific Ocean, calling his move "a great thing for the American worker." The other nations vowed to push ahead on the agreement without the U.S.
The same day, the White House said Trump would renegotiate the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada to stop U.S. companies from moving plants to its neighbors — particularly Mexico — and eliminating American jobs. If a new accord could not be reached that is fairer to American workers and reduces the U.S. trade deficit, Trump said he would withdraw from the deal. The U.S. neighbors have resisted major changes, and the talks continue.
Both gestures were disastrous for U.S. trade and influence, said Anders Aslund, an economist at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington, which promotes trans-Atlantic relations.
He said the U.S. marginalized itself from Mexico, a key partner in both trade deals. "It also means the U.S. isolates itself from Latin America," Aslund added.
The agreement with Pacific countries was supposed to set standards for trade, labor and the environment for East Asia under U.S. leadership. By pulling out, Trump in effect allows China to set those standards, Aslund said.
Trump pledged to negotiate better agreements with each country involved, but "there are no bilateral trade deals being discussed with the United States," Aslund said.
More: Trump makes it official: He will renegotiate NAFTA
• Imposed travel ban
In his first week in office, Trump issued a travel ban on people from eight countries, including six that have Muslim-majority populations. Federal courts blocked the ban, the list of countries changed, and the Supreme Court approved the latest version, which affects Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and Chad, while legal challenges continue.
The ban has been decried by other countries around the world.
He also promised to build a wall along the southern U.S. border to keep out illegal immigrants and said Mexico would pay for it. Trump's chief of staff, John Kelly, told Democratic lawmakers this week that Mexico will not pay for the wall, though Trump continues to insist it will.
The immigration issue blew up again last week when reports surfaced that Trump referred to Haiti and countries in Africa as "shithole countries" during a meeting with lawmakers in the Oval Office. At least five African countries and the African Union made formal diplomatic protests.
The president's gaffs could make it difficult for some countries to cooperate with the U.S. on such priorities as counterterrorism, said Daniel Fried, a former assistant secretary of State. "It may not have an effect immediately or today or tomorrow, but it’s going to accumulate," he said.
More: Supreme Court allows Trump travel ban to take full effect
• Battled NATO over money
In his first meeting with NATO allies in May, Trump scolded their “chronic underfunding” of the alliance and refused to explicitly endorse the mutual defense clause of the treaty, known as Article 5. In June, Trump affirmed the U.S. commitment to aid any of the 28 NATO nations if attacked. He did so after other NATO leaders said they were prepared to maintain a collective self-defense even without American support.
But the damage was done, Aslund said: "Even when Trump eventually came out in favor of Article 5 he does not look like a reliable ally."
Despite that, Aslund said, Trump did more than the Obama administration to counter Russia's threat to NATO's eastern flank.
Trump reluctantly signed legislation last summer giving Congress sole authority over lifting the sanctions on Russia for its support of separatists in eastern Ukraine. Trump put troops in the Baltics to counter the Russian threat. And he agreed for the first time on Dec. 22 to sell lethal weapons to Ukraine.
• Pulled out of Paris climate accord
Trump ordered the government in June to stop implementing the Obama-era Paris climate agreement, which called for the U.S. and other nations to reduce carbon emissions that contribute to global warming. Trump, who has disputed a scientific consensus that human activity is causing higher temperatures, said he would be willing to renegotiate a deal "that's more fair" to the United States. Trump's actions, making the U.S. the lone holdout from the global accord, drew international condemnations from American allies in Europe, who ruled out new talks.
Since the Paris agreement was negotiated with Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Europe "now has to deal with China on its own, and the U.S. has no influence," Aslund said.
More: U.S. withdrawing from Paris climate agreement, Trump announces
• Threatened nuclear war with North Korea
Trump used incendiary threats about war with North Korea in August that departed from the more restrained language other presidents have used and sparked international fears of a catastrophic conflict. After North Korea said it would fire missiles in the direction of Guam, a U.S. territory in the Pacific, Trump responded that "North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.” North Korea never followed through on its threat. Trump also traded unprecedented personal insults with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump called Kim “little rocket man" and “a sick puppy.” Kim called Trump "a dotard,” meaning senile.
North Korea has said it will not relinquish its nuclear weapons capability, which the reclusive country claims was developed to deter a U.S. attack.
Trump boosted international pressure and attention on North Korea, but his goal of removing nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula "is unrealistic and unrealizable," Miller said. And trading insults with Kim "increases the chance of miscalculation."
• Repudiated the Iran nuclear deal
Trump last week issued an ultimatum to European allies to fix "disastrous flaws" in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal or the U.S. will withdraw. His warning Friday came as he extended waivers of key economic sanctions on Iran, saying this would be the last extension.
The move keeps the deal alive for several months, despite Trump's past vows to scuttle the Iran agreement with the U.S. and five other world powers.
Trump wants Britain, France and Germany to agree to additional restraints on Iran's ballistic missiles, inspections of suspected nuclear sites and permanent restrictions on Iran's ability to secretly produce a nuclear bomb.
More: Iran deal survives for now; Trump will waive sanctions
The accord lifted international sanctions on Iran in return for limits on Iran’s nuclear program. Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif accused Trump of trying "to undermine a solid multilateral agreement."
Danielle Pletka, a Middle East analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, said many analysts and lawmakers agree with Trump that the Iran deal is flawed. "If he can leverage a better deal, that’s all for the good." Pletka said.
But Miller said the risk is considerable. "If Trump’s approach results in no deal — and we walk — is that a success? I would argue probably not," he said.
• Recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital
Trump’s formal recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December angered Muslim nations and drew a rebuke at the United Nations from 128 countries. Only seven small nations joined the U.S. and Israel in voting against the U.N. resolution Dec. 21, while 35 nations abstained.
Trump said his decision should have no bearing on final borders to be negotiated as part of a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
On Tuesday, the Trump administration withheld $65 million, more than half the amount due, from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which has supported Palestinian refugees since the 1948 Arab war that erupted when Israel was created. The Trump administration called for a "fundamental re-examination" of the agency.
Pletka said tepid reaction in the Middle East to Trump's decisions showed that support for Palestinians "has dropped with Arab states that once supported them unreservedly."
More: Trump declares Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, breaking with decades of U.S. foreign policy
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