WASHINGTON �� President Donald Trump's foreign policy has shaken long-time U.S. allies and left them off-balance, his predecessor's top national security aide said.
The U.S. "is supposed to be the grown-up at the dinner table," former national security Adviser Susan Rice said in an interview to air Sunday on CNN. "We're not supposed to be the crazy aunt in the attic that nobody knows what is going to do next."
Rice chided Trump for, among other things, calling on South Korea _ a key U.S. ally _ to pay for a missile defense system the U.S. is setting up in the country.
"The deal was they provide the land and the installation, and we would provide the system in its operation," she said. Trump also said this week he wants to renegotiate or cancel a trade agreement with South Korea.
North Korea Saturday test-fired a ballistic missile for the sixth time this year. U.S. allies in Asia have are increasingly concerned about tensions with North Korea and the nuclear weapons ambitions of its leader, Kim Jong Un. They want steadiness from the U.S., Rice said.
"I'm concerned, frankly, that we're hearing very mixed messages," Rice said. "We need to reassure and secure our allies, particularly South Korea and Japan, who feel most directly threatened by North Korea."
Rice's blunt assessment of Trump's international agenda is latest in a war of words between the Obama White House's top foreign policy adviser and the current administration.
Trump this month, without citing evidence, said Rice may have committed a crime by trying to learn the identities of Americans associated with the president caught up in intercepted communications related to Russia. She has denied any wrongdoing.
After campaigning against the type of overseas interventions that have characterized American foreign policy for decades, Trump has become increasingly embroiled in global affairs. That includes a U.S. missile strike against Syria, bombing Islamic State positions in Afghanistan, and the situation on the Korean Peninsula.
Meanwhile, Trump has shifted positions on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, China's currency policy, and a free-trade agreement with Canada and Mexico.
"I would say that in many respects it's been unsteady and rocky," Rice said of Trump's foreign policy. "A number of our closest friends and allies are feeling uncertain, off-balance, unclear as to where we stand and what we mean. "
