Strongman Diplomacy: Donald Trump and the Changing World Order
An isolationist America is bad news for Americans and the Free World
Image Credit: The New York Times
“They remembered a million useless things, a quarrel with a work-mate, a hunt for a lost bicycle pump, the expression on a long-dead sister's face, the swirls of dust on a windy morning seventy years ago: but all the relevant facts were outside the range of their vision. They were like the ant, which can see small objects but not large ones. And when memory failed and written records were falsified—when that happened, the claim of the Party to have improved the conditions of human life had got to be accepted, because there did not exist, and never again could exist, any standard against which it could be tested.” - George Orwell, 1984
In the aftermath of WWI, American foreign policy has been responsible for toppling dictatorial regimes, conducting humanitarian military interventions, and establishing organizations to facilitate global collaboration. One hundred seven years on, that legacy hangs in the balance. A century of bipartisan liberal internationalism—spanning 31 presidencies—is over: in 2025, multilateralism is no longer a U.S. priority.
President Trump is undermining the calculated efforts of his predecessors by cutting foreign aid, imposing (recently deemed illegal) tariffs, and abandoning longtime allies in favor of relationships with like-minded autocrats. In the process, he is supplying Xi with the circumstances he needs to assemble a coalition determined to defeat American hegemony. Despite the president’s vindictive rhetoric and promises to punish the other, American citizens and our way of life are in jeopardy. In awful irony, his most faithful supporters, those responsible for his historic return, are particularly vulnerable.
Very few moments from the last six months better epitomize Trump’s approach to foreign policy than his meeting with Ukrainian President Zelensky in February. The Oval Office fiasco, complete with middle school bickering, would have been unimaginable just a few years ago. A sitting American president berating the executive of an allied nation under siege—on national television— without any real backlash from Republicans is a testament to the success Trumpian ideology has had in completing its takeover of the right.
Beyond indifference from members of his own party, it is the sycophantic praise the president receives—reminiscent of what is found in totalitarian regimes—that is most concerning. Representative Andy Ogles’ post on X, made in response to a video of the February exchange, reads, “This is what it looks like to stand up for America.”1 Lindsey Graham, a one-time loyal supporter of Ukraine, echoed similar sentiments, holding Zelensky responsible for the breach of protocol. Unwilling to risk their cushy positions, Republicans on Capitol Hill are falling in line, abandoning their conservative principles and belief in the American-led global order. What Trump says, or more aptly, what Trump demands, becomes the law of the land through executive action, bypassing congressional debate and input, and is rubber-stamped by the judicial branch. His approach instead relies on handshake “business” deals made without expertise or any specialized knowledge. The “adults”—experts on American public policy and diplomacy—are nowhere to be found.
The effects of Trump’s autocratic approach to governance are already being felt within the US. The war being waged on higher education, the deployment of the national guard on home soil,2 inhumane ICE deportations,3 and cuts to FEMA4 all undermine the principles—freedom, inclusion, solidarity—upon which our nation is built.
But domestic policy is only half the story. The unconstitutional scrapping of USAID contracts is estimated to result in 5.7 million more Africans falling below the poverty line and millions of additional cases of HIV.5 In the short term, cuts will increase displacement, exacerbating the existing immigration crisis as families seek opportunities elsewhere. In the long run, less American Aid means less influence in countries that have been reliant on U.S. funding for decades, at a time when China is investing billions as part of its Belt & Road Initiative and Russian mercenaries are trekking through Western Africa. The US was already losing the war for hearts and minds of the global south; Trump has eliminated the few footholds we had, weakening our coalition and empowering Moscow and Beijing.
Tariffs imposed on allies and enemies alike are pushing nations away and into Xi’s arms. Just this week, following the imposition of a 50% tariff on Indian goods, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was warmly embraced, both physically and metaphorically, by Chinese President Xi Jinping as part of a larger economic summit in Tianjin for the first time in seven years.6 In recent months, various trading partners have likewise made private and public pivots toward China. In his second term, the absence of experts is manifesting itself in a collapse of the status quo. Beyond higher prices at the grocery store, price hikes that have outsized impacts on the average American, tariffs are threatening our security beyond diplomatic quarrels. The offshoring of innovation and cuts in grants, amid a technological arms race, give our adversaries time and an edge in any potential conflicts.
The 47th president has also repeatedly undermined Article 5 of the NATO alliance. The organization was established as a bulwark to counter growing Soviet aggression, precisely because we understood the value of European security for American and global prosperity.7 Now, at a time when the threat to Eastern European sovereignty from Russia is at its highest since the Cold War, Trump is verbally assaulting allied leaders, while simultaneously hosting summits and rolling out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin. A stronger Western coalition and a weaker Russia are assets for the U.S., well worth the trillions spent on defense.
China is more than happy and ready to fill the vacuum left behind by an isolationist America. We should not let them.
Footnotes:
Andy Ogles (@RepOgles), post on X (formerly Twitter), February 28, 2025, https://x.com/RepOgles/status/1895541144962154540.
Ashley Parker and Nancy A. Youssef, “Why Is the National Guard in D.C.? Even They Don’t Know,” The Atlantic, August 29, 2025, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/08/trump-national-guard-deployment-dc/684055/.
Hamed Aleaziz, “Inside Trump’s New Tactic to Separate Immigrant Families,” The New York Times, August 5, 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/us/politics/trump-administration-family-separation.html.
Robert Tait, “Fema staff warn Trump’s cuts risk exposing US to another Hurricane Katrina,” The Guardian, August 25, 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/25/fema-trump-hurricane-katrina.
Spencer Lynn, “Op-Ed: The Devastating Impacts of the USAID Pullout on Africa,” Michigan Journal of Economics, May 13, 2025, https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/mje/2025/05/13/op-ed-the-devastating-impacts-of-the-usaid-pullout-on-africa/.
Deutsche Welle (DW), “SCO Summit: World Leaders Gather in China’s Tianjin,” August 30, 2025, https://www.dw.com/en/sco-summit-world-leaders-gather-in-chinas-tianjin/a-73823580.
Chris Lunday, Jake Traylor, and Laura Kayali, “Trump Casts Doubt on Article 5 Commitment En Route to NATO Summit,” POLITICO Europe, June 24, 2025, https://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-nato-summit-sidesteps-article-5-mark-rutte-eu-defense-budget-russia-vladimir-putin-iran-israel-strikes-qatar/.
This is an exceptionally well-stated overview of how the world has been altered since Trumps second term began