For two weeks, America’s friends held their tongues. Since his inauguration President Donald Trump had enjoyed a steady stream of warm words — and very little criticism — from leaders in Europe and the Anglosphere who, privately, might bristle at the noise and bombast he brings to the White House.

But that accord was never bound to last, and it shattered this week after Trump unleashed perhaps his most provocative foreign policy idea yet: taking Gaza under American control, relocating its Palestinian population, and redeveloping the enclave into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”

The suggestion seemed to shred in an instant decades of Western policy-making, darting away from a “two-state solution” model that had been long-established, if glaringly elusive in terms of progress.

Nations rushed to reject it. America’s allies in the region reacted with disbelief and concern about the impact the call would have on live diplomatic efforts, particularly the ongoing ceasefire and hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas. Palestinians have expressed dismay at the prospect of leaving their homeland.

In Europe, where the United States usually enjoys less complicated relationships, leaders varied in tone but were clear in their stance: They do not support this.

Still, Trump has left America’s partners in a difficult spot. Criticizing the US is a last resort for many leaders – doing it so early in a presidential term is fraught with downsides.

“My read is that they’re all gobsmacked. They didn’t see it coming,” Jon B. Alterman said of America’s allies. Alterman, a former US State Department official, is now the director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.

There are wider, more diffuse reverberations too. Trump’s history of haphazard geopolitical interventions has already threatened to ideologically isolate the United States, bit by bit, among its global allies. His remarks on Gaza – whether they represent an idea, a plan, or something inbetween – may accelerate that process.

“This administration has not only an instinct but an appetite to be disruptive,” Alterman said. He predicted “a much deeper soul-searching in Europe, about how it wants to engage with a United States that is much more self-absorbed, and much less committed to supporting a multilateral system.”

Trump vs. Europe

Most Western nations are cautious of the unpredictability Trump brings to the White House, but they were more prepared for his second election win than his first.

They expected a test like this. And their responses to Trump’s Gaza plan highlighted how they might more broadly tackle Trump 2.0.

The United Nations was robust, its secretary-general warning Trump against “ethnic cleansing.” France said the proposal would constitute “a serious violation of international law.” (The forced removal of a population is prohibited by the Geneva Convention.) Spain’s foreign minister told radio station RNE that “Gazans’ land is Gaza.” In Western Europe, only Dutch far-right figurehead Geert Wilders broke ranks to endorse the plan. “Let Palestinians move to Jordan. Gaza-problem solved!” he wrote on X.

German President Walter Steinmeier said the suggestion was “unacceptable,” and the country’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said it would “lead to new suffering and new hatred.”

“In Germany, the government reaction is as expected: they’re very dismissive,” he noted. An upcoming federal election has increased the incentive for the beleaguered German government to condemn Trump, who is widely unpopular in the country and across Western Europe.

It is a dynamic Trump’s team will be relaxed about. “They’re not going to expect Western capitals to break out in a chorus of ‘me too, sign us up!’,” said Nathan Sales, Trump’s former Coordinator for Counterterrorism. “We don’t have to agree with our friends 100% of the time.”

Besides, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his government have little incentive to hold back: they likely won’t be in power next month to clear up the mess.

But criticizing the US president is not easy for everyone.

Take Britain. America’s steadfast ally is desperate for a productive relationship with Trump, and early signs indicate that a charm offensive from Prime Minister Keir Starmer is paying off. Trump said this week that Starmer had been “very nice,” and hinted the United Kingdom could avoid the tariffs he has threatened for the European Union. That is a monumental carrot for a British leader looking everywhere for a kickstart to economic growth.

Yet those bridges are built on sand. London is acutely aware that an ill-judged remark could upend months of work to appease Trump. At the same time, Starmer knows the pitfalls of appearing subservient to an American president; it’s exactly what he once launched barbs at Conservative prime ministers for.

That conundrum forces some delicate wordcraft. “On the issue of Gaza, Donald Trump is right,” Starmer’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy told reporters in Ukraine this week, reciting the part of his answer intended for an audience of one. “Looking at those scenes, Palestinians who have been horrendously displaced over so many months of war, it is clear that Gaza is lying in rubble.” The rest was meant for everyone else: “We have always been clear in our view that we must see two states and we must see Palestinians able to live and prosper in their homelands in Gaza.”

“Hard-balling allies is certainly an odd foreign policy approach,” the lawmaker added of Trump. “Will he do it with enemies?”

The next fight

As with most of Trump’s more provocative comments, his Gaza proposal was simultaneously derided and analyzed at home and abroad for hints of strategy.

Those familiar with his thinking suggested that tossing out an unpalatable benchmark could – whether by design or not – create an urgency among America’s allies to come up with something better. “He enjoys keeping people in reactive mode,” Nelson said.

“We’ve seen this play from President Trump many times before … this is the art of the deal,” Sales added. “Most Western allies of the US are stuck in a rut when it comes to thinking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict… in the first term, the Trump administration recognized that that path was a dead end.”

But if unlocking an intractable diplomatic stalemate was the plan, it comes with risks that America’s allies will not welcome. “Sometimes when you unfreeze things, you can unleash forces that are much more negative than you can even begin to contemplate,” Alterman said.

Among them is an American isolation on global issues that would create a vacuum of international leadership. “A number of countries are going to feel that they need a different relationship with Russia and China,” Alterman warned. “Partly so that they don’t rely on the United States, (and) partly because they don’t see the moral benefits of having a close relationship with the United States.”

That danger is heightened in the context of Trump’s moves to sanction, exit or criticize international agencies, and to dismantle the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

“People are confusing USAID with a charity,” Nelson said. “Americans are among the most charitable people in the world. But making strategic investments is an important way for us to support our friends and expand our influence.”

This won’t be the last geopolitical rupture between Trump and Europe. Many are already eyeing possible negotiations to end Russia’s war in Ukraine with interest; Trump has previously suggested ceding Ukrainian land to Moscow, and officials in NATO countries have long feared he may go public with a proposed arrangement that leaves Kyiv and European capitals scrambling.

They will seek to diffuse those fears next week, when several members of Trump’s inner circle – including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance and Ukraine-Russia envoy Keith Kellogg – are expected to travel to the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

“I would hope that the administration would pursue a more balanced and calculated approach to Ukraine,” Nelson said. “One hopes that Trump would be very much relying on expert advice” on that conflict, he added.

On more issues than one, Trump’s global honeymoon appears to be over. And if Western countries needed a reminder of the tumult he can inject into global affairs, they have it.

“The Biden administration tried very hard to be reliable and predictable” on the world stage, Alterman said. “The Trump administration has exactly the opposite instinct.”

Trudeau’s comments, first reported by the Toronto Star, were picked up on an open microphone when Trudeau believed the media had been escorted out.

“Mr. Trump has it in mind that the easiest way to do it is absorbing our country and it is a real thing. In my conversations with him on…,” Trudeau said, according to audio from the Canada-US Economic Summit in Toronto shared by CBC News, before the microphone cut out.

Trudeau made the comments after delivering an opening address at the summit, and after journalists had left the room, CBC reported.

He added that Canada becoming another US state was “not going to happen.”

Trump followed through with his threats to impose tariffs on Canada last week, announcing a new 25% duty on most Canadian goods imported into the US. However, after Trudeau made commitments to bolster security at Canada’s border, Trump announced Monday a pause on the proposed tariffs for at least a month.

After a call with Trump, Trudeau said Canada would be implementing its previously announced $1.3 billion border plan, as well as committing to appointing a “fentanyl czar” and listing cartels as terrorists.

Sweden’s right-wing government said on Friday it would seek to tighten gun laws in the wake of the country’s deadliest mass shooting at an adult education center where the attacker appeared to have used several of his own licensed rifles.

Ten people were shot dead at the Campus Risbergska school in Orebro on Tuesday, before the man believed to be the perpetrator – identified by a Reuters source and Swedish media as Rickard Andersson, a 35-year-old Swedish recluse – turned a weapon on himself.

Police confirmed on Friday that the suspected shooter was a 35-year-old man, and said they had completed the identification of all the victims, although they did not release any names.

Seven women and four men between 28 and 68 years of age died in Tuesday’s attack, including the suspect, police said in a statement.

Among the victims were several Christians who fled persecution in Syria. Police say they have found no evidence of an ideological motive so far.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said the event had sparked fear and a sense of vulnerability among many people with immigrant backgrounds in Sweden, calling for everyone to “unite and stand behind all that we hold dear together.”

“My thoughts are with the relatives who have now received the call that is the worst one can get. To you, I want to say: you are not alone. We stand beside you,” he said in a social media post on Friday evening.

The government has agreed with its far-right backers in parliament to tighten up the vetting process for people applying for gun licenses and to clamp down on some semi-automatic weapons.

It said the AR-15, an assault rifle based on a military design that has been used in many mass shootings in the United States, was the kind of gun it wanted banned.

“In light of the horrible shooting in Orebro earlier this week we believe that the right balance is to roll back the regulation and prohibit that kind of weapon,” Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer told Reuters.

He said it was not clear yet what kind of guns had been used in the attack in Orebro and banning AR-15 weapons would be a “preventative measure.”

“We know that kind of weapon, with some changes, can become very dangerous and also that it has been used in that kind of shooting in other countries,” he said.

AR-15 rifles have been permitted for hunting since 2023 and Strommer said around 3,500 have been licensed since then.

Sweden’s main opposition party, the Social Democrats, welcomed the move but called for more far-reaching vetting and controls. “There is a before and after February 4,” Social Democrat lawmaker Theresa Carvalho told a press conference.

Police have not specified what kind of weapons were used in the attack, saying only that three rifles licensed to the suspected killer were found near his dead body. Local media have reported he had a hunting license.

The attack has also raised questions about whether security at Sweden’s schools needs to be better. Unlike in many other countries, schools are generally seen as semi-public spaces and rarely have any controls on who can go in and out.

The government is looking at speeding up legislation already going through parliament that would make it easier for schools to install surveillance cameras, Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer told Swedish media on Thursday.

Sweden has a high level of gun ownership by European standards, though it is much lower than in the United States. Most weapons are held legally for hunting, but a wave of gang crime has highlighted the high incidence of illegal handguns.

Figures from 2017 by The Small Arms Survey, a Swiss-based research institute, showed there were about 2.3 million guns held by civilians in Sweden. That is around 23 guns per 100 people compared to 120 in the United States and 4.6 in Britain.

The attack has left Sweden in mourning and police are still trying to determine a motive. They are looking into information he was at some point a student at the school.

Three male Israeli hostages are in the custody of the Israeli military in the fifth round of exchanges between Israel and Hamas, as uncertainty looms over the next stage of the Gaza ceasefire agreement as well as the enclave’s long-term future.

Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi, and Or Levy – all taken hostage during the Hamas-led October 7 attack on Israel – were handed to the Red Cross in the central city of Deir al-Balah on day 491 of their captivity in Gaza. Although the transfer was orderly the three appeared thin and pale when they were led onto a makeshift stage.

Both Ami and Sharabi were dressed in brown. The hostages were seen delivering speeches in Hebrew while standing on the stage, before being led to the three Red Cross vehicles waiting to take them back to Israel. It is unclear whether they were speaking under duress.

The Red Cross then passed the hostages to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Gaza.

The images during Saturday’s handover were described as “disturbing” by Israel’s Hostages and Missing Families Forum. Levy – who was released as he was considered a humanitarian case – appeared particularly frail.

Ben Ami, 56, and Sharabi, 52, were both taken from their homes in Kibbutz Be’eri, about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the Gaza border.

Ben Ami’s wife, Raz Ben Ami, also taken captive that day, was freed during a short-lived truce in November 2023.

Sharabi’s wife and daughters were killed in the October 7 attack, according to the kibbutz. His brother Yossi Sharabi, who was taken captive, died in Gaza, where his body remains, according to the Israeli military.

Levy, 34, was attending the Nova music festival on October 7 when he was kidnapped. His wife Eynav was killed in the attack. Levy also has a three-year-old son who he’ll be reunited with on his return to Israel.

Hamas has now released a total of 16 Israeli hostages as part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, of a total of 33 promised at staggered intervals during this stage. Eight of those 33 are dead, according to the Israeli government.

Following the release of the three hostages on Saturday, Hamas and its allies still hold a total of 73 people taken from Israel on October 7, 2023, of 251 initially taken. Three additional hostages, held captive since 2014, are still in Gaza.

Hamas has said it expects Israel on Saturday to release 183 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the three Israelis. Israel is yet to confirm the numbers and names of the prisoners expected to be released.

Eighteen of the Palestinian prisoners expected to be released Saturday are serving life sentences, while 54 have lesser sentences and 111 were detained in Gaza after October 7, Hamas said in a statement. The charges against the 111 were not clear.

As well as taking hostages, Palestinian militants killed more than 1,200 people during the October 7 attack. Israeli bombardment of Gaza since then has killed more than 40,000 people, reduced much of the enclave to rubble, and led to a humanitarian catastrophe for surviving residents. The war has spilled over into the wider region, putting Israel in conflict with key Hamas backer Iran, as well as Tehran proxies such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.

Saturday’s release follows the freeing of three Israeli hostages – Keith Siegel, Yarden Bibas and Ofer Kalderon – on February 1. The three men were handed over by Hamas in two orderly handover ceremonies that stood in stark contrast to scenes earlier that week.

On January 30, Israeli and Thai hostages were released in chaotic fashion, with a crowd of thousands jostling and cheering as they were handed over to the Red Cross in the central Gazan city of Khan Younis. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described that handover as “shocking” and demanded guarantees from those who mediated the ceasefire deal – Qatar, Egypt and the United States – that the incident would not be repeated.

Uncertainty looms over the future of the ceasefire and hostage agreement between Israel and Hamas. Negotiations on extending the Gaza ceasefire – which expires on March 1 – are in doubt.

Netanyahu has been deeply wary of phase two of that deal, which would see the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and the return of the remaining hostages there. His finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has pledged to quit the government if the ceasefire continues.

Fueling more uncertainty, in remarkable comments on Tuesday evening, US President Donald Trump proposed that the US “take over” Gaza, relocate its residents to neighboring countries, and redevelop the war-torn enclave. His comments were welcomed by Israeli far-right ministers and condemned by Hamas.

A Hamas official slammed Trump’s proposal as a “recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region.”

“Our people in the Gaza Strip will not allow these plans to pass, and what is required is to end the occupation and aggression against our people, not expel them from their land,” Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri said.