US Blind Spot for Five Eyes

The intelligence-sharing alliance of Anglophone nations could be at risk as President Donald Trump brushes off allies and the White House appears to grow closer to Russia

- ELLIE COOK

PICKING UP THE PIECES OF A PLANET SHATtered by World War II, the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand formally banded together to pool their intelligence.

This Anglophone arrangement dubbed the Five Eyes an elaborate web of intelligence capabilities pitted against threats-has seen its members through the many decades since.

But in a matter of days, President Donald Trump and his top officials have shredded the order that has dominated for 80 years. Upending U.S. foreign policy, slapping tariffs north of the border and splattering America's allies with disdain, the new administration has had those relying on Washington asking whether they can trust the U.S. to provide vital and sensitive capabilities.

Little is more sensitive than the Five Eyes, its gaze long fixed on Moscow and Beijing. It is the "most important intelligence sharing agreement in history," said Calder Walton, a historian specializing in national security and intelligence at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

There are now pressing concerns over whether Trump will pull the U.S. from the alliance as part of his broader brush-off of America's allies-and whether the remaining Five Eyes nations could survive it. One potential scenario could see the White House stymie what it shares with allies. In another, the U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand could deem the U.S. an untrustworthy confidant and limit the intelligence it shares with Washington.

American allies have watched with deepening unease the apparent rapprochement between the White House and the Kremlin. Some are now discussing reeling in the intelligence they share with the U.S. because of the administration's Russia stance, NBC reported on March 6, citing four anonymous sources with knowledge of the debates.

"As long as Trump is president, the Five Eyes doesn't have value," a U.S. military official told Newsweek.

What Is the Five Eyes?