After the first 100 days of his second term, Donald Trump has succeeded in making a lasting mark on his nation and the world. While the line between fame and infamy is often blurred, the mercurial US president has painted a very clear picture.
His historical legacy is more likely to be paired with the Roman Emperors Nero or Caligula than any American predecessor. Trump’s America does not leave one guessing. Washington has opted for the rule of the jungle rather than of law, attempting to lead by coercion rather than persuasion. Facts, laws, alliances, and treaties mean little if they cannot be twisted, bent or repurposed for the issue of the day.
But like a sugar high, the effects are ephemeral. At home, Americans have seen the economy slow to crawl, trade markets close, investments freeze, jobs disappear, and prices soar. Trump has the lowest approval rating of any president after 100 days, and more than half the American public characterise his administration as a “dangerous dictatorship.”
It is not just billionaire businessman Elon Musk’s reckless and illegal Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts that have alarmed the public, but attacks on education, law firms, businesses, political opponents, the media, cultural institutions, and the rule of law have as well – including on basic tenets of constitutional law like habeas corpus and free speech.
The impact on the international scene is equally traumatic. Trump has aggressively dismantled the very post-World War II global order which Washington itself crafted to minimise great power conflict and enrich itself through global economic integration. It is this order under which all nations operate. Trump has reduced American soft power, diminished its diplomatic clout, reversed longstanding trade pacts, and distanced the nation from sacrosanct treaty obligations. He has made outlandish claims on Canada, Greenland, the Panama Canal, and Gaza, imposed sweeping tariffs across the board, and offended allies and coddled adversaries.
It has been a longstanding political truth that one campaigns in poetry and governs in prose. Trump is surely no poet, but his shock and awe pronouncements have proven both puzzling and deeply unsettling. The shockingly unilateral manner in which he has executed policy is also notable. It has left citizens in all corners of the world pondering the motives and strategic rationale of these jarring moves.
Perhaps even more concerning has been the increasing reliance on bluff, bluster, and outright lies which the president and his sycophantic cabinet have relied upon to justify even the most absurd declarations – including those Trump himself often reverses weeks or even days later.
Trump has boasted of ongoing trade talks with China, which are in fact not happening. He has claimed he’s brokered 100 trade deals, when the actual number is zero. Echoing the words of UK prime minister Neville Chamberlain before World War II, he suggested peace was at hand in Ukraine, which could not be further from the truth – despite adopting Kremlin talking points and extorting a lucrative mineral deal from beleaguered Kyiv.
Despite fierce opposition from Ottawa, he has ordered his secretary of state to launch negotiations with Canada on becoming a US state. He recently ordered Egypt to allow free passage in perpetuity to American vessels on the Suez Canal.
The daughter of US president Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt, Alice, once said that “my father always wanted to be the corpse at every funeral, the bride at every wedding, and the baby at every christening.”
Trump is no Roosevelt, who acted within the law and was a builder rather than a destroyer. But the need for attention is similar. His narcissistic ego explains why he cannot be bothered with formalities or legalities. It also explains why he has chosen to surround himself with toadies rather than qualified experts.
LEADERSHIP: Since World War II, America’s superpower status has been maintained not just through economic and military might, but consensus-based leadership.
The world is not static, and Washington has continually tweaked its global strategy to stay at the top of the heap. It has utilised diplomacy and business acumen, comprehensive military capabilities, and international bodies – the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and the World Bank – to retain power. Its policies were generally predictable and transparent, and this reliability has allowed countries around the world to set their own economic, political, and national security strategies.
The United States was at its zenith at the end of the Cold War. On a bipartisan basis, American presidents worked to contain the former Soviet Union and encourage countries to align with the US as the best way forward.
Washington made many miscalculations along the way, but its adaptability, and sometimes humility, allowed it to overcome its missteps without serious damage to its clout. Former president Richard Nixon and his immediate successors in the 1970s forged a working relationship with China, understanding that Beijing was destined to play a growing role in global affairs. The logic was that if at all possible it is better to work with a perceived adversary to the benefit of both. This strategy also had the benefit of isolating, and weakening, the Soviet-led bloc.
Throughout history, hegemonic powers fall because they lose sight of their mission and fail to adapt to change. This is most often due to assuming unrealistic responsibilities and lacking foresight in dealing with emerging powers. Inevitably, they are unable to use the power of persuasion, instead over-relying on pressure and force. In so doing, they ignore the fact that all nations are motivated primarily by their own national interests. By failing to achieve stated goals, incumbent powers eventually lose credibility and influence.
Since 11 September 2001, and more specifically since the occupation of Iraq in 2003, the United States has struggled to understand its mission. It has largely failed to project a vision which is embraced at home or abroad for leading to a better rules-based future.
At home, many Americans became disillusioned as the economy evolved due to technological innovation and global integration. The emphasis of the new workforce shifted from blue collar industrial and farm labour to a service-based economy that valued a skilled, highly educated workforce. Crucial to continued success was financial might and research and development, not blue-collar labour.
This left many Americans, particularly those lacking higher education, feeling displaced. It opened the door to populist appeals, which started long before being weaponised by Trump’s “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) movement. Trump’s nationalist pitch amounts to a fever dream of turning back the clock and creating a utopian nation and world that never existed nor will come to pass. The very tools that maintained American power – aid, trade, alliances, international institutions – were blamed for changing its economic profile and the transformation of the job market that accompanied it.
It is unsurprising that white, less-educated voters are the most passionate supporters of Trump and that his executive orders appeal to their fears.
FOREIGN POLICY: Foreign aid is an easy political target. Polls consistently show that Americans believe 25 per cent of the federal budget is devoted to assistance – handouts of taxpayer dollars to foreign governments.
However, in reality only one per cent of the budget goes to foreign aid, and much of that benefits American farmers and businesses. Military assistance subsidises American industry, while simultaneously strengthening US security capabilities through alliances with interoperable foreign forces.
While global trade can be blamed for the loss of some jobs, it also lowers consumer costs on most goods and generates considerable profit for the American economy. It includes mechanisms, some weak but many enforceable, to make trade fairer and rules-based.
Trump’s decision to rule by decree is based on a broad interpretation of the US Supreme Court’s decision last July to grant presidents “presumptive immunity for official acts.” He believes this allows him to act unfettered by law, Congress, or the courts. Applying this idea abroad, he opts to ignore treaties, switch alliances, eliminate foreign assistance, deploy the military against real and perceived threats, and impose tariffs. Enforced by his toady advisers and nonstop adulation in the right-wing media, he has grossly overestimated his power.
Thus, his dictatorial domestic tendencies are paired with a fantastical foreign policy. He seemingly believes he can unilaterally acquire land, resolve conflicts, and alter global economics. He has not hesitated to reverse US policy on climate change, human rights, and the support of democracy and the rule of law.
But the costs to the United States and world alike are mounting. Increasingly unpopular at home, international polling paints an equally grim picture. Canada is perhaps the best neighbour any nation could hope for, yet only 19 per cent of Canadians feel the US has a positive influence on global affairs. He is also unpopular in the European Union and Australia. Globally, China is now seen more favourably than the US.
The world is witnessing the United States voluntarily cede its global position. If the country continues on this course, America’s place in the world will be forever altered and the global order permanently upended. Increasingly, it seems that the America that existed prior to 20 January this year was symbolically buried at the funeral of former president Jimmy Carter.
The writer is executive director of the University of Central Florida Office of Global Perspectives & International Initiatives. The opinions presented are his own.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 8 May, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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