Velshi starts now.

Good morning. It's Sunday, June the 9th, with less than five months to go until the

2024 presidential election.

Anxiety is running high about the prospect of Donald Trump's return to the White House.

His vow to exact

retribution against his enemies, especially in the wake of his historic criminal conviction,

has raised fears that he could abuse the powers of the presidency and that he could further erode

democracy with another four years in office. And Americans are not the only ones who are experiencing this anxiety.

Many of our allies abroad are feeling similarly apprehensive about Trump's possible return to power.

And they're sharing those concerns about how he could destabilize democracy here in the United States and abroad.

Trump took an isolationist stance during his first four

years in office, and he signaled during his current campaign that he would take a similar

approach during a second term. His admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin is also

a huge concern for many of America's European allies, especially since Russia poses a physical and existential threat to the

entire continent as Putin's war in Ukraine continues. Many NATO countries were particularly troubled

by one of Trump's comments earlier this year. During a campaign rally in February, the former

president once again brought up one of his biggest hangups

with NATO that other countries should be contributing more money to their defense spending.

If they don't pay, he warned, then he would encourage Russia to, quote, do whatever the hell they want.

That comment also highlights Trump's transactional approach to politics and his misunderstanding

or blatant ignorance of the importance of maintaining not just good relations with our allies,

especially in terms of trade and national security, but maintaining NATO, the most powerful

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