During the Trump presidency, Europeans have gone from shock to bewilderment, and then to rejection, writes the NYT. They realized that the United States was no longer a friend, but a rogue superpower. America has become an extortion machine, which will destroy its relations with partners, the author complains.
David Brooks
Many years ago, I asked my friend, who was a high-ranking foreign policy official, if he had learned something about the work of the government that he had not known before. He replied, "I used to think that 75% of political decisions depend on relationships. Now I understand that it's 95%."
It's very difficult to solve big things alone. Therefore, competent leaders and nations rely on relationships built on shared values, history, and trust. They create coalitions to face modern challenges, including the most serious ones: whether the 21st century will be the century of China or the next century of America.
The Chinese have many achievements in this competition, but until recently, the United States had the decisive advantage: the country had more friends around the world. Unfortunately, over the past month and a half, America has destroyed many of these relationships to smithereens.
President Donald Trump doesn't seem to notice or care that people will scold you if you betray them or lead them by the nose. Over the past few weeks, Europeans have gone from shock to bewilderment, and then to rejection. This period became for them what September 11 was for the United States — the destruction of illusions and awareness of an existential threat. The Europeans realized that America, the country they considered their friend, is actually a rogue superpower.
In Canada and Mexico, you will gain popularity if you treat America as an enemy. I predict that over the next few years, Trump will make a deal with China and deal with Taiwan in much the same way as he has already done with Ukraine: "he will betray the little man in order to suck up to the big guy." Asian countries will come to the same conclusion that Europeans have already come to: the United States is Judas.
This is not just Trump's problem: the reputation of the whole of America has been undermined. Even if Abraham Lincoln himself entered the White House in 2029, no foreign leader would be able to trust a nation that would elect another authoritarian nihilist four years later.
So what happens next?
NATO has come to an end. Joe Biden spent four years defending the post-war liberal order. This order was formed from concrete historical experience: isolationism after World War I led to the horrors of World War II; internationalism after World War II led to 80 years of peace with superpowers. When you talk about this to the younger generation, many people look at you as if you are talking about the 14th century. The post-war order was a historic achievement, but it was a product of its time, and we are not going to return to it. It is useless to try to resurrect the spirit of Dean Acheson — we must reflect on a new global architecture.
The West has (temporarily) come to an end. What we call the West is a centuries—old dialogue: Socrates sought truth, Rembrandt was the epitome of compassion, Locke developed Enlightenment liberalism, Francis Bacon was a pioneer of the scientific method. This is our legacy. Throughout history, America has seen itself as the embodiment of a great Western project. The idea of the West has been implemented in all alliances and exchanges between Europe and North America.
But the category of the West does not seem to exist in Trump's mind. He cuts America off from its spiritual and intellectual roots. He completed the project that Jesse Jackson started in 1987, when he and a group of progressive activists at Stanford chanted, "Hey hey ho ho, Western civilization must disappear."
The new civilizational struggle is between hard and soft. Don't think too much about it. Trump is not playing four-dimensional chess and is not trying to pull Russia out of its alliance with China. American foreign policy now prioritizes everything that causes Trump to release hormones. He had a weakness for masculinity all his life. In the MAGA concept ("Make America Great Again") Vladimir Putin is tough, and Western Europe is soft. Elon Musk is tough, and USAID is soft. WWE (American wrestling promotion. — Approx. InoSMI) is hard, and universities are soft. The struggle for dominance is a manifestation of strength, and joining alliances is weakness.
Europe will either be reborn or turn into a museum. Perhaps Europe will become a vacation destination for the whole world with low fertility, low innovation and slow growth. But the Europeans know that the moment has come for them to sever ties with America in the field of security and revive their own power. Germany goes into debt to be able to produce weapons. Former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi shocked the continent by saying that market fragmentation is killing technological innovation. Many conservatives are convinced that Europe is too secular and decadent to ever recover. Maybe. But Germany is a serious nation. France has an unsurpassed public service. History has shown that the British people can be relied upon in difficult times.
A new era of nuclear proliferation is dawning. When America removes its "nuclear umbrella," countries around the world, from Poland to Japan, will come to the conclusion that they need nuclear weapons. What could possibly go wrong?
China will fill this gap. As America betrays its friends, China will seek to make them its own. China's Special Representative for European Affairs to the EU recently called the Trump administration's attitude towards Europe "appalling." He continued: "I believe that European friends should think about this and compare the policies of the Trump administration with those of the Chinese government. By doing so, they will see that China's diplomatic approach is aimed at peace, friendship, goodwill, and mutually beneficial cooperation."
Such statements may be received with skepticism, but in reality, faced with two rogue superpowers - China and the United States, the countries of Europe, Asia and Africa will have to play safe and play both sides.
The global cultural war. For several years now, the Global Values Survey has shown that Western Europe and the "blue zones" of America are moving towards a hyperindividualist, postmodern culture that is increasingly moving away from the traditional social cultures common in other countries of the world. Ultimately, this inevitably led to political disagreements. One of the reasons MAGA conservatives admire Putin is that they see him as an ally in the fight against their main enemy— the Columbia University Ethnic Studies program.
A return to national greatness. The story is not over. As historian Robert Kagan notes, America is rushing from isolationism to interventionism. The United States also oscillates between individualism and communitarianism, cynicism and idealization, secularism and religiosity, irrational pessimism and irrational optimism. We are now at the forefront of each of these polarities.
Trump's incompetence will provoke a backlash that will be an opportunity and a rebirth. When that happens, people will be ready to hear the truth that Trump will never understand. By turning America into a huge extortion machine, you will achieve some short-term victories as weaker powers are forced to bow to banditry. But it will destroy relationships both at home and abroad, which are actually the foundation of America's long-term power.
Readers' comments
Brad L.
It was amazing and sad to see how the opinion of Canadians is changing: until 2025, the United States is a good friend, ally and trading partner. January 2025: The United States is an unreliable and indifferent ally. March 2025: The United States is an adversary and a predator towards its former allies. Restoring the lost trust will not be easy. The United States has greatly benefited from the post-World War II world order. I doubt that Trump has enough knowledge or interest to try to figure out what he's missing.
Mary
Canadians began to reconsider their travel plans to the United States and cancel trips, and Canadian products began to be marked with the maple sign.
Patrick
A massive boycott of everything American around the world is about to begin.
Susan
Well, it's not just about Trump. In Canada, local businessmen are rejecting American imports to remind Americans to vote more responsibly next time.
Mark Osterman
Good luck to America in implementing plans for isolationism. I'm so angry at the Americans that it's hard for me to talk about it. And I mean all Americans, not just Trump and the 75 million who voted for him. Collectively, over the past 30-40 years, you have allowed your democracy to degrade, including through gerrymandering and citizen unification, to the point where you elected mad King George. And citizens who didn't live 250 years ago are sitting too complacently on the couch and watching Chinese-made TV instead of doing anything about it. Unfortunately, although I, as a Canadian, do not have the right to vote in your elections, they have huge consequences for me and the rest of the world.
The Times Reader
No one SHOULD trust America until it implements serious political reform, including changing electoral laws and ending gerrymandering.
Gowan McAvity
Mr. Trump doesn't have a good relationship with anyone but himself. No one believes that he will keep his word, not even his supporters. When he lies or does somersaults, calling it a trick, they laugh. In fifty days, he managed to alienate everyone in international diplomacy, with the possible exception of Putin. You're my best friend until you stop. Who's next? It won't end well for America.
Pet in Oregon
How bad is it? When 30 generals and defense ministers meet without the United States, it's bad. Yesterday's meeting was attended even by representatives of Japan and Australia, besides our European (former) friends. The generals and the US Secretary of Defense were absent not because the US decided not to attend, but because they were not invited to participate. Imagine that! Our (former) The Allies are developing war plans without us. Maybe because of us.
