It’s not their war. But it’s becoming their political and economic nightmare.
World leaders who opposed the US-Israeli attack on Iran are being torn between Donald Trump’s ire at their failure to join the conflict and electorates who are deeply hostile to the war and America’s president.
Their dilemma is shifting the dynamic between the US and its allies. Leaders who once tried to appease and flatter the world’s most powerful man are now daring to criticize him and seeking distance. They are doing so not just out of antipathy to American foreign policy, but also because of war-related pressures threatening the livelihoods of their people, and therefore their own governments and careers.
Even leaders who tried to shape Trump’s second-term behavior are reacting to his contempt. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Monday said Trump’s attacks on Pope Leo XIV were “unacceptable.” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose friendship with Trump shattered over the war, said last week he was “fed up” that Britons were facing higher energy bills because of Trump’s actions.
Leaders are reacting to war consequences they can’t control, epitomized by an International Monetary Fund warning Tuesday that the world is trending toward an “adverse” scenario of only 2.5% growth this year, down from 3.4% in 2025.Countries reliant on Middle East gas and oil supplies could fare worse. The IMF downgraded its growth forecast for Britain to 0.8% in 2026, down from a previous projection of 1.3%. That would be a disaster for Starmer’s imperiled government, which has failed to honor its pledge to reignite the economy.
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