Former Trump advisor warns his isolationist stance would face a new ‘axis of disrupters’ in a second term as Russia, China, Iran and North Korea build a ‘more cohesive coalition’

America’s adversaries are becoming increasingly coordinated, posing potential challenges to the isolationist foreign policy stance that Donald Trump is advocating ahead of a possible second term, a former adviser in his administration has warned.

“One big difference from the past is this axis of disruptors: Russia, China, Iran, North Korea,” Nadia Schadlow, who served as deputy national security adviser for strategy in the Trump administration, told the administration. Wall Street Journal.

‘They function as a much closer coalition than in the past. That’s a new dynamic that he would have to manage,” added Schadlow, who is currently a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.

Trump, the likely Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election, has doubled down in recent days on his position that America should withdraw from global affairs and focus on domestic issues.

Earlier this week, he appeared to encourage Russia to attack NATO allies who don’t meet their defense spending quotas, demanding that European allies “Pay up!” to match US military aid to Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) meets Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) in 2019. US adversaries are forging closer ties and cooperation, a former Trump adviser warns

“His mindset is that if you want us to defend you, you have to spend money,” Schadlow told the Journal.

Voter fatigue from overseas wars and the US’s perceived role as the world’s policeman helped propel Trump to victory in 2016, when he also promised tougher conditions for allies and fewer foreign entanglements.

Now he’s doubling down on that stance, but Schadlow warns this comes at a time of increasing coordination among U.S. adversaries.

US officials say North Korea is now supplying weapons to Russia. Moscow has also sought closer ties with China and Iran as it continues its war against Ukraine.

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told DailyMail.com in a statement: “Crooked Joe Biden allowed this disaster to happen, and that’s why we need President Trump back in the White House.”

On Iran, Trump says he would continue the hardline policies of his first term, when he suspended an Obama-era deal to curb Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

On China, Trump has vowed even tougher stances on trade, talking of abandoning normal trade ties and imposing sanctions of up to 60 percent.

But he has also praised Chinese leader Xi Jinping, calling him a “brilliant guy” at a meeting earlier this month.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un looks at what he says is an intercontinental ballistic missile that the country tested at Sunan International Airport in Pyongyang, North Korea

Trump has also been vague about whether he believes the US should defend Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing wants to gain control of.

“Answering that question puts me in a very bad negotiating position,” he said on Fox News last summer when asked whether the U.S. should defend Taiwan.

“That said, Taiwan has acquired all of our chip businesses,” he added, referring to Taiwan’s leading status as a producer of advanced semiconductors.

Trump has said little about his plans for North Korea and its leader Kim Jong Un, after exchanging “love letters” with the dictator during his first term.

In December, Trump dismissed as “fake news” reports that he plans to strike a deal that would allow Kim to keep his nuclear arsenal but ease sanctions if he halted development of new nuclear warheads.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are at their highest level in years. Kim is believed to be accelerating his nuclear and missile programs and has enshrined in law his country’s right to carry out pre-emptive strikes.

During his first term, Trump proposed withdrawing U.S. troops from South Korea, Germany and other countries.

He has said he would push for greater military spending in a second term to deter adversaries from challenging the US or starting new wars.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi listens to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during their meeting in Tehran, Monday, October 23, 2023.

Last weekend, Trump was widely condemned for claiming he would encourage Russia to attack NATO members who don’t “pay up.”

Among those condemning the former president were the White House, which labeled his comments as “unhinged,” and a former communications official who said Trump encouraged Vladimir Putin amid fears it could even trigger World War III.

The ex-president made the alarming promise to incite a cheering crowd that took to the streets outside his rally in Conway, South Carolina, on Saturday.

‘The president of a great country stood up and said, “If we don’t pay and we are attacked by Russia, will you protect us?” I said you haven’t paid, are you overdue? He said, “Yes, let’s say that happened.”

‘No, I wouldn’t protect you, in fact I would encourage them (Russia) to do whatever they want, you have to pay! You have to pay your bills.’