Sowing decades of trouble for U.S.

SURE, PRESIDENT Trump's erratic foreign policy has alienated allies, shredded the U.S.-led rules-based global order, nudged Canada closer to China and turned NATO into something resembling your uncle’s Facebook page after someone brings up politics.

- MATT K. LEWIS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

MARKUS SCHREIBER Associated Press THE PROBLEM with President Trump's approach is not just that it is costing us friends, but that it's creating potential enemies.

Other than that? Everything’s terrific.

Just kidding. It might be even worse than we think.

The problem isn’t just that we're losing friends, it’s that we're creating potential enemies. And not just the kind who boo the national anthem at sporting events, but the kind who someday might decide that America is the villain in their personal origin story, right before the montage where ominous music starts playing.

If this sounds abstract or alarmist, it’s worth noting that it has already happened.

Osama bin Laden — who was once, awkwardly, sort of an informal ally against the Soviets — was radicalized largely by the Gulf War and the stationing of American troops in Saudi Arabia.

This is notable because the Gulf War — unlike the subsequent Iraq War — had international approval, a clear mission and an exit strategy. By war standards, it was practically a model U.N. bake sale. And yet it still produced consequences that reshaped America’s future, resulting in 9/11 and a couple of not-so-tidy wars.