New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Luxon says he still trusts Donald Trump, even as the US President backflips on support for Ukraine and upends the previously-understood world order.
Since returning to the presidency, Mr Trump has issued a scathing series of attacks on allies and traditional partners of the US, including Canada, the European Union, NATO and war-torn Ukraine.
The unnerving policy shifts have prompted many in New Zealand, just like Australia, to reconsider its ties to the United States.
New Zealand is not a formal ally of the United States - unlike Australia - but has long-standing security and intelligence links, such as the Five Eyes network.
Helen Clark, who was prime minister from 1999 to 2008 before forging a career in the UN, said she'd seen enough from Mr Trump to suggest the cessation of those ties.
"There's been some talk in the media of Trump wanting to evict Canada from it. Please could we follow?" she told TVNZ.
Ms Clark said she wouldn't be comfortable sharing intelligence with Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence "as you don't know where it's going to go".
Ms Clark said NATO was "very much in question" as "it's no longer clear what the US would do as part of it's NATO responsibilities".
"It's a huge deal. It's rewriting the postwar settlement," she said.
In Wellington on Monday, Mr Luxon admitted a joint press conference between Mr Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy was a "tough watch".
He offered a broadside to Ms Clark while committing to the intelligence-sharing framework.
"I see our current intelligence reports, not ones from 20 years ago, and I'd just say to you that it is right that we are very much part of the Five Eyes network," he said.
"I trust the president, and I trust the American system, and that we can work well with the American system."
Asked whether he considered the US a reliable partner, and whether it shares New Zealand's value in a rules-based order, Mr Luxon said simply and firmly, "Yes".
In Feruary, he said New Zealand would be open to committing troops to a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine should one materialise under a peace agreement, a position he reiterated on Monday.
Ms Clark's attack on Five Eyes was also grounded in the network's growth beyond its originally-intended purpose.
"It's useful if it goes back to being a quiet, not particularly acknowledged intelligence pool," she said.
"It's not helpful as a coordination of foreign policy positioning. And that's where it's headed."
