Trump thinks he can bully the entire world into submission. It isn’t working.
Today’s United States has a terrible ‘image problem.’
No, wait. The truth is far, far worse. The U.S. has a terrible and worsening reality problem.
Under the malign influence of Donald Trump and MAGA, the U.S. has embarked on a disastrous ‘final mission’: to destabilize (wreck) and then remake both the U.S. government and the global trading system. Under Trump 1.0, from 2017–2021, the U.S. stumbled badly, bungled its COVID-19 response (leading to over 1.13 million deaths), and lost much global support and many allies.
Poor, well-intentioned Biden then tried to repair the damage, but it was already too ingrained and Biden wasn’t up to the (massive) job. Despite some major successes, Biden couldn’t derail the ‘Trump train.’
Then Trump 2.0 commenced in January 2025, and things rapidly escalated to a whole new level of awfulness. Trump 2.0 took over America like a rampaging bull smashing through a china shop — and is leaving complete devastation in its wake.
Commanding a subservient Congress and a pack of lunatic, groveling ‘Cabinet heads,’ Trump and his partner-in-crime Elon Musk rapidly crushed many crucial aspects of our federal government. Musk and his hated DOGE teams summarily fired over one hundred and twenty thousand federal workers. All as they gutted or dismantled several Congressionally-mandated agencies, including USAID and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Legal, shmegal. Who cares if it’s legal?
Of course, Trump and Musk can’t do that, legally — but they clearly don’t care and aren’t letting that ‘inconvenient fact’ deter them or slow them down. Rather, they are doing whatever the hell they want, whenever they want, to whomever they want — and in the cruelest ways possible. They’re secure in the knowledge that our courts must play ‘catch-up’ and won’t be able to curtail most of their outrageous conduct and actions. They are out of control and are creating multiple dire effects that are also spinning out of control.
Hell, Trump is even threatening to take over other countries, by force if necessary. These include Panama, Greenland (a Danish territory), and even our friendly neighbor Canada. Uh… make that formerly friendly neighbor.
The belief that our courts are our ‘safeguards of last resort’ and will effectively stop these two maniacs is beyond ludicrous. When the executive branch (Trump) controls the Justice Department and the U.S. Marshals Service, there’s no one left to enforce court orders if Trump commands them to stand down. We can almost taste Trump’s fervent desire to battle the courts and our justice system and viciously take them down.
And remember, he’s now been granted legal immunity for all ‘official’ acts he performs as president. Poof goes the power of the courts and the rule of law.
Our Congress, courts, and press are all… pathetic
It’s both pathetic and infuriating to watch the White House press corps questioning Trump and Musk and attempting to get valid answers to their questions and concerns. Poor, deluded reporters! They insist on treating Trump and Musk like normal politicians who care about their constituents, are willing to field questions from the press and public, and most importantly, give somewhat honest, direct answers. Not even close!
It’s pathetic to watch these reporters fall all over themselves to ‘understand’ Trump’s actions or positions, beg for straight answers, and humiliate themselves in the process. “Please, sir, can we please have a sensible answer? Any explanation? Anything?”
The problem is, there’s nothing to ‘understand’ because there’s no reasonable rationale for what Trump and Musk are doing. They are out to undermine, gut, and destroy the U.S. government — the better to control and remake the wreckage once they’re done. They have no ‘policies,’ nor any plan to help and empower American citizens. If anything, they seek the opposite: to hurt most Americans, cripple our economy, and lord it over us like the total megalomaniacs that they are.
See, these faithful, clueless reporters — and our whole society — are totally out of their depth with egomaniacs like Trump and Musk in control. We’ve never seen anything like this. We have no idea how to deal with it or stop their rampage.
The sick, sad truth is that no one knows what to do. Thus, no one is stopping them. Not the Congress, not the courts, and certainly not the press. The U.S. has not only lost its way, but is in the exact situation of a person getting sucked down into deep quicksand — with only his/her nose still above the surface. A few moments more… and the U.S. may sink under the surface for good. Then the once-proud U.S. will have simply… disappeared.
Let’s be ‘happy bullies’ and lord it over the world
Trump’s modus operandi during the first three months of his new ‘administration’ consists entirely of two related activities/‘policies’: slash and burn, and bully them all into submission. The MAGA vision for America starts with burning it all down — and then moves to reinventing the U.S. as a White Male Christian nation lording it over anyone not White, Male, and Christian.
Even worse, just who are Trump and MAGA trying hard to ‘bully into submission’? Answer: everyone, including all non-MAGA Americans, women, other nations, and even our former friends and allies. Together, Trump, Musk, and MAGA are well on their way to making the U.S. the most despised and hated nation on the planet.
Way to go! Rah, rah, U.S.A.! Let’s all be ‘happy bullies’ and Make America Great Again. The rest of the world can go screw itself. America First!
The huge, insurmountable problem we face is that we live in a completely interconnected and interdependent world, especially economically. Our arrogant, bullying attitude towards the rest of the world is backfiring badly. Increasingly, it looks like the nation getting screwed will be US.
With each passing day, respect for U.S. status, power, fairness, and trustworthiness around the world is slipping fast or even disintegrating. Soon, we may find ourselves the most despised nation in the world, bar none.
Blitzkrieg, breakdown, and trade wars
Trump’s blitzkrieg against the American people and government — and the entire world — has been so intense and destabilizing that it’s almost impossible to wrap our heads around. The sheer scale and scope of his nonstop ‘bull in a china shop’ rampage have overwhelmed both our American system and the American people — as intended.
Since it’s hard to grasp the full scope of Trump’s blitzkrieg, let’s narrow our focus to one major aspect: his intensifying ‘trade war’ with the rest of the world. Here, Trump’s megalomania and amazing hubris are on full display. He truly believes, with all his heart, that he and the U.S. can bully all other nations into groveling submission. And scarily, he gets full-throated support for this absurd, horrible ‘policy’ from his top trade officials (like Peter Navarro, who Musk derided as being “dumber than a sack of bricks.”)
Trump’s trade ‘policies’ — which apparently depend on nothing more than his latest bullying, arrogant whims — have see-sawed wildly, back and forth. Utter market chaos has ensued, so to call his actions ‘inconsistent’ is a vast understatement. One day he wants to impose steep, unheard-of tariffs on all other nations. Then he changes his mind and suddenly drops the extreme tariffs on everyone except China — though almost every nation still has to pay a 10% tariff or more.
Then he escalates our suicidal trade war with China, which produces a huge portion of the ‘consumer goods’ that Americans buy and depend on. He recently raised the tariff on Chinese goods to an astounding 125%. Then, when China — which has made it clear it will not be bullied into submission — retaliated with its own 125% tariff on American goods, Trump responded true to form, like the vengeful bully he is, and upped the tariff on China to an utterly bizarre 145%!
And the hits just keep coming. After a huge uproar from the tech industry, on April 11 Trump decided tech materials and products will all be exempt from the 145% tariff. He singlehandedly *saved* the tech industry! What a guy! But, of course, this could change at any moment. [Note: As of 4/13, it has already changed. Now Trump’s trade advisors are warning this reprieve won’t last long.]
Just to clarify the effect such tariffs have on the cost of goods: If American consumers used to pay $100 for a pair of sneakers, say, under these absurd tariffs they’ll now pay over $140 — minimum!
Trump is a total narcissist and megalomaniac
But here’s the truly vital thing to remember about Trump and his ‘trade policies’: they don’t even exist! This is a man who has elevated international bullying to a whole new level (along with his good buddy Putin). He thinks other nations should and will kowtow to him, and is utterly ruthless about promoting his self-aggrandizing, moronic agendas.
This is a man for whom everything is literally all about him and his huge (fragile) ego. He’s not concerned about causing suffering to others or our economy. Nor does he have a single patriotic bone in his body.
Trump is all and only about Trump: his own fame, power, control, financial gains, and ability to create chaos and wreak havoc on both our economy and his perceived ‘enemies.’ This is a man for whom vengeance, cruelty, and political retribution are paramount.
. . .
Yet the American people, and the press in particular, still relate to Trump as if he’s a normal, caring, and thoughtful person — when he is none of those things. Our feckless press keeps on asking him demurely about his ‘plans’ and ‘policies.’ What they should be doing is standing united in their fierce opposition and equally fierce questioning of his aims, motives, and actions.
As usual with Trump, the press and Americans in general are letting him and his inner circle get away with murder. We have already surrendered to his massive (tiny) ego and endless bullying. We have surrendered our precious ‘freedom’ to a ruthless authoritarian and wannabe dictator.
The rest of the world will NOT forgive or acquiesce to Trump’s hubris
But other nations and peoples see Trump for who and what he is. They are quite aware of the havoc he is creating in the U.S. and on the world stage. Other nations are in no mood to forgive him — or the American people — for his many insults, transgressions, hate-mongering, and dangerous economic and social bullying.
They are in no mood to acquiesce to all of Trump’s stupid, harmful BS. Thus, many nations and peoples, including many former allies, are taking stock, assessing the situation, and pulling away from the U.S. with lightning speed. They’ve seen the writing on the wall, they don’t like what they’re seeing… and they want no part of it.
I don’t blame them. In fact, I totally understand and agree with their angry reactions. Trump is a profound threat to the world and its people, and he is increasingly unhinged, volatile, and dangerous.
The rapid rise of Trump, MAGA, and his simplistic ‘America First’ agenda has alienated almost the entire world. And his trade wars and abrupt, chaotic tariff changes have made investors and economists all over the world intensely wary of Trump, the U.S., and our ever-changing ‘policies.’
In short, most nations and peoples of the world are coming to distrust, dislike, and even hate the U.S. and our current administration. If Trump and his allies keep up their crazed economic blitzkrieg — which they show every sign of continuing or expanding — then it’s likely that by year’s end the U.S. will be the most despised and hated nation on earth.
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This post was previously published on This America.
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