Trump’s long shadow in Prague

An Insider-exclusive dispatch from the GLOBSEC Forum  
  
| | | Exclusive dispatches like this one are a benefit of your Insider subscription.  
---  
|  | | VIEW IN BROWSER  
---  
|  | |   
---  
|  | |   
---  
| |  **John Haltiwanger** is a staff writer at _Foreign Policy_ covering U.S. national security, the Middle East, and more. He writes FP’s weekly Situation Report newsletter.  
---  
| | |   
---  
| |  **John Haltiwanger** is a staff writer at _Foreign Policy_ covering U.S. national security, the Middle East, and more. He writes FP’s weekly Situation Report newsletter.  
---  
| | | Dear stephen, In the Uber that I took to JFK Airport en route to Prague for the GLOBSEC Forum, the driver would not stop talking about how high gas prices are as a result of the Iran war. He kept pointing to gas stations along the way, bewildered by the price per gallon at each one we passed. In a way, this set the tone for a lot of the conversations that I would have in the subsequent days. At GLOBSEC, which took place May 21-23 at the Hilton Prague Atrium, the rippling consequences of U.S. President **Donald Trump** ’s leadership hovered over virtually every conversation.  During a panel on Arctic security that I moderated, the discussion had barely begun before Trump’s push for the United States to control Greenland came up. “We are still in a surreal situation and dialogue where the leading member of NATO threatened to invade and take over the biggest Arctic state,” said **Thordis Gylfadottir** , a former foreign minister of Iceland. I had not yet asked a question about Trump, the United States, or Greenland—yet the issue would go on to dominate much of the conversation, as well as the strains the U.S. president is placing on trans-Atlantic relations more generally.  Trump is largely focused on Iran at the moment, but he hasn’t given up Greenland. There are ongoing negotiations involving the United States, Greenland, and Denmark on the subject. **Johannes Koskinen** , chair of the Finnish parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said the talks are now happening in the “right rooms,” but it’s still the “wrong timing” and “wrong way” to take up the matter.  The discussion on the Arctic typified how difficult it’s become to have conversations on global security without mentioning how Trump is shaping the world. In yet another reminder of Trump’s long shadow, former U.S. Defense Secretary **Mark Esper** , who served in Trump’s first administration, was sitting in the front row of the audience during the Arctic panel. (Trump fired Esper in November 2020 after he repeatedly opposed the president on various issues.) At a cocktail party at the lovely Zofin Palace, I spotted Esper wandering near the bar as if he was looking for someone to talk to. It was very relatable. Ex-Pentagon-chiefs—they’re just like us.  The wars in the Middle East and Ukraine—and Russian threats to Europe more generally—were also major topics at the forum. I moderated a fireside chat on seeking peace in the Middle East with **Mohammed bin Abdulaziz al-Khulaifi** , Qatar’s state minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Khulaifi expressed concerns that the world has moved on from Gaza, where a cease-fire is hanging by a thread and the Trump-backed peace process is stalled.  “One mediator cannot do it all. This is not only the responsibility of Qatar, or the responsibility of the U.S., or the responsibility of Egypt. This is the collective responsibility by all international stakeholders, who will be able to contribute positively to the peacemaking process,” said Khulaifi, who has served as a lead negotiator for Qatar on Gaza.  “Many of us at the international level, we surrender to the word ‘cease-fire.’ But the problem is that we don’t take the extra step to the long-lasting solution, something that would provide more hope for the Palestinian people and the region, as well,” Khulaifi added.On the final day of the forum, I sat down with Lithuanian Foreign Minister **Kestutis Budrys**.  As NATO’s eastern flank increasingly deals with spillover from the Russia-Ukraine war, including drone incursions and hybrid threats, Budrys said that the European Union needs to invest more in “capabilities at the border.”  Though many in Europe are clearly fed up with Trump, some think he’s having a positive effect—including Budrys. He downplayed tensions between NATO and Washington and expressed confidence in the health and longevity of the trans-Atlantic alliance. Budrys said that when people look back on this period, he’s “confident” they will say that Trump made NATO “stronger, not weaker.”  There were a number of world leaders at the forum, including Czech President **Petr Pavel** —who I often spotted walking through the Hilton’s lobby. But the real star of the show seemed to be Moldovan President **Maia Sandu** , who, along with European Parliament President **Roberta Metsola,** received GLOBSEC’s annual award at a dinner held at Prague Castle. Sandu had no shortage of admirers in attendance—the room erupted in applause when she accepted the award. Sandu was praised for her efforts to defend democracy in Moldova and the model that she has set for other European leaders in countering hybrid threats from Russia.  In many ways, GLOBSEC felt like a warm-up for the upcoming NATO summit, and a lot of the issues that were covered are likely to be at the top of the agenda this July in Ankara, Turkey. The forum overlapped with a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Sweden, and a number of those diplomats traveled to Prague immediately after. Budrys, who was at the ministerial meeting in Sweden, told me that to make the Ankara summit a success, the alliance needs to “send a strong message that we are united.” “Because if we now question trust in the trans-Atlantic relationship or Article 5, how can we manage to make our adversaries believe in it? This is the essence of the collective defense: whether your ally will come or not,” he said. (You can check out my full interview with Budrys here.)  Thanks for reading!Best,  
**John Haltiwanger** _P.S. Hey Insider, thank you for your continued support of our independent journalism. Feedback on this dispatch? A specific topic you think we should cover in the next one? Respond to this email to share your thoughts with our staff._  
---  
| |   
---  
| 

#  Situation Report  
  
  
---  
 John Haltiwanger and Rishi Iyengar write FP’s weekly security and defense newsletter. Everything you need to keep track of foreign policy—with an eye on why it matters to Washington. Delivered Thursday.  
---  
GET ON THE LIST  
---  
|   
---  
| | | | |  | | | |   
---|---|---|---|---|---  
| | | Want to receive FP newsletters? Manage your FP newsletter preferences.  
---  
MANAGE YOUR EMAIL PREFERENCES  |  VIEW OUR PRIVACY POLICY  |  UNSUBSCRIBE   
---  
Reach the right online audience with us.  
---  
_Foreign Policy_  is a division of Graham Holdings Company. All contents © 2026 Graham Digital Holding Company LLC. All rights reserved. Foreign Policy, 1099 14th St NW, Suite 500 East, Washington, D.C., 20005.  
---