The President’s Inbox Listener Mailbag: 2025 in Review, With Carla Anne Robbins and Matthias Matthijs
Dec 23, 2025
Carla Anne Robbins is a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, specializing in U.S. national security and international journalism, while Matthias Matthijs focuses on European politics and transatlantic relations. Together, they discuss the dramatic shifts in U.S. foreign policy in 2025, highlighting how allies felt trapped while rivals like China and Russia thrived. They explore concerns over NATO's trustworthiness, analyze Trump's mercantilist views, and debate the fate of the liberal order amidst stark party divisions on foreign policy.
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Shockingly Systematic Disruption
- The Trump administration has been far more disruptive and systematically dismantling established norms than expected.
- Carla Anne Robbins says this retreat from global leadership is startling and frightening.
Allies Felt Forced To Appease
- Matthias Matthijs argues allies faced pressure to appease the U.S., while China and Russia benefited.
- He notes democratic allies constrained their criticism to avoid making things worse with Washington.
NATO Reassurances Ring Hollow
- Germany's leaders publicly reassure U.S. commitment to NATO but likely doubt it privately.
- Carla Anne Robbins calls such assurances 'whistling in the dark' amid repeated threats to allies.