Donald Trump has threatened to withdraw the US from the World Trade Organization (WTO) unless the international body “shapes up”.
In an interview with Bloomberg this week, the president said that the US had been treated “very badly” by the WTO and that the 1994 agreement establishing the organisation “was the single worst trade deal ever made”.
But as some observers have pointed out, the businessman-turned president has a habit of threatening to withdraw from major organisations and trade agreements when he thinks the US is getting a raw deal.
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The Week looks at the main pacts that Trump has threatened to break so far - and whether he followed through.
Nafta
The North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) between the US, Canada and Mexico has been in place since 1994. After first threatening to pull out of the pact in April last year, Trump this week unveiled details of a new US-Mexico trade deal that The Daily Telegraph describes as a “historic break from Nafta”.
Canada is scrambling to negotiate its way back into a trade agreement - referred to by some as Nafta 2.0 - in order to avoid a breakdown in trade relations with the US, with Trump calling for a deal by the end of today.
If Canada fails to keep its place in the free trade bloc, Trump has warned that he may attempt to go ahead with a bilateral US-Mexico deal.
Verdict: Followed through
Iran Deal
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran Nuclear Deal, was a keystone of Barack Obama’s presidency, but has been criticised by Trump since long before he became commander-in-chief.
The 2015 agreement between Iran, China, Russia, the US and the EU stipulated that Iran would halt the expansion of its nuclear weapons programme in return for the lifting of sanctions by the other signatories.
On 8 May 2018, Trump announced that the US was withdrawing from the deal.
Verdict: Followed through
Paris Agreement
Trump was an outspoken opponent of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, which sought to reduce carbon emissions worldwide, and withdrew the US from the accord in June 2017 - one of the first major policy decisions of his administration.
The president described the agreement as “draconian” and claimed it would cause a “very diminished quality of life” for Americans. “I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris,” he added.
Verdict: Followed through
Nato
In July, Trump came close to suggesting the US might unilaterally withdraw from the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) if other member states fail to hit their spending targets for the military bloc.
Trump “plunged the Nato summit into chaos” in July by saying that the US would “go it alone” if his demands were not met, according to The Guardian.
However, as the newspaper notes, “the organisation was established by a formal and binding treaty, which means Trump cannot use his executive power to pull America out of the alliance”.
Verdict: Empty threat
TPP
Signatories of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) barely had time to adjust to life under Trump before the president withdrew the US from the agreement after just three days in office.
Trump claimed that the trade agreement - between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam - was “undermining” the US economy.
The remaining 12 members dissolved the agreement and replaced it with the awkwardly named Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), founded this March.
Verdict: Followed through
UN Human Rights Council
US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley announced in June that the US would officially withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), calling the organisation “hypocritical” and a “cesspool of political bias” that “makes a mockery of human rights”.
Trump has not openly commented about his country’s membership of the UNHRC, but his administration has long opposed it and the US withdrawal would not have been approved without his consent.
Verdict: Followed through
The Apprentice
Trump quit his role as host of the US version of reality TV show The Apprentice in early 2015 in order to focus on his presidential campaign. Or did he?
Trump had initially stated that he was “not ready” to sign on for a 15th season of the show in case of a presidental bid, but NBC did not take this as a formal resignation and commissioned the series in March 2015 anyway.
In June the same year, the network announced that it was “ending its business relationship with Trump” following the then-presidential candidate’s derogatory remarks about illegal Mexican immigrants, whom he claimed were “bringing drugs, bringing crime, they’re rapists”.
Verdict: Possibly fired
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