Donald Trump thinks he’s running the world.
His ambition is boundless. But it also reeks of dangerous hubris and raises a grave question: Where will the planet end up under the leadership of this chaotic and vengeful president?
Trump revealed his plan for global dominance in a new interview with “The Atlantic.” He said he had rid himself of the “crooked guys” and investigations that limited his first term. “The second time, I run the country and the world,” he added.
The president is attempting a massive, simultaneous transformation of life in the United States and the American-led global political and economic systems that have cemented Washington’s primacy since World War II.
He’s indisputably the most ubiquitous world figure, 100 tumultuous days since reclaiming the Oval Office. No one knows what he’ll do next – not the US’ allies nor its enemies. And in this upside-down era of MAGA foreign policy, it’s sometimes hard to know which is which. From Moscow to New Delhi and Gaza to Rome, Trump has a finger in every geopolitical pie.
Many foreigners might be revolted by the president. But they can’t ignore him. That must be especially sweet for a commander-in-chief whose entire life has been a quest for notoriety.
There’s some truth to Trump’s boast
The reality of America’s global role means that the person who has the top job has immense authority, said Majda Ruge, a senior policy fellow at the United States program at the European Council on Foreign Relations.
“Take Ukraine, which is on the borders of the European Union – it’s practically a European issue, but the fact is that without American intelligence, military support and American nuclear deterrence, Europeans are not able to continue supporting Ukraine to the extent that is needed for Ukraine to actually advance on the battlefield,” said Ruge, who was speaking from Brussels.
“Going back to the quote, ‘I run the world,’ there is truth to that because of America’s huge impact on world politics and foreign policy,” Ruge said.
“But the question is, is he actually running it in the direction that is constructive, rather than disruptive and a little bit all over the place? And secondly, is he even running it in a strategic manner to ultimately arrive at the place he wants to go?”
Trump’s supporters argue that the traditional American approaches to foreign policy brought nothing but humiliation. They remember two lost wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and think Europe built bloated welfare states under America’s generous military umbrella.
The president’s bombast puts a lot of people off. But he often asks pertinent questions. For instance – did two decades of US economic engagement with China buy nothing more than a 21st-century superpower rival while destroying American manufacturing? And 80 years after the defeat of Nazism and three and a half decades after the fall of the Soviet Union, shouldn’t Europeans now be taking care of their own defense?
The problem is that Trump’s approach to addressing these questions risks undermining the security and the stability of the world he professes to lead.
