Trump fed our worst instincts. His global legacy
is toxic and immoral
Simon
Tisdall
The US president rampaged across the world, leaving a
trail of random destruction, division and conflict in his wake
Sun 27 Dec
2020 10.00 GMT
How much
damage did Donald Trump do around the world, can it be repaired, and did he
accomplish anything of lasting significance? Assessing the international legacy
of the 45th US president is not so much a conventional survey of achievement
and failure. It’s more like tracking the rampages of a cantankerous rogue
elephant that leaves a trail of random destruction and shattered shibboleths in
its wake. Last week’s wild pardoning spree is a case in point.
First, the
big picture. Trump’s confrontational manner, combined with his “America First”
agenda, seriously undermined transatlantic relations and US global leadership.
Joe Biden promises to set this right, but it will not be easy. France’s
Emmanuel Macron exploited US introspection to advance ideas of European
autonomy and integration. Leaders in the UK, Hungary and Poland cynically
flattered Trump for their own political purposes.
Trump’s
ill-disguised hostility left deep scars in Germany, the most important European
ally. This apparent phobia, fed by Berlin’s large trade surplus and relatively
low defence spending, had a misogynistic tinge. He was, on occasion,
unbelievably rude to chancellor Angela Merkel. A recent Pew poll found only 34%
of Germans think US relations are in good shape.
“Transatlantic
relations worsened exponentially under Trump because of his open disdain for
the European Union, his often belligerent interactions with EU leaders, and his
vocal support for Brexit,” new analysis by the International Institute for
Strategic Studies says. Yet divergences were already evident pre-Trump, it
notes. George W Bush’s Iraq war was deeply unpopular in Europe. Barack Obama’s
“pivot to Asia” made old friends feel unloved.
All that
said, Nato not only survived Trump’s constant criticisms; in some respects, its
original purpose – deterring Russia – was reinforced by deployments of
additional US forces in eastern Europe and the Baltic republics. Trump’s demand
that European allies spend more on defence was not unreasonable, although his
bullying brought only limited change.
His lies eroded
trust in democracy and the rule of law, at home and abroad
Trump’s
habit of thinking transactionally, not strategically, had a disastrous impact
in Asia and elsewhere. He treated loyal allies Japan and South Korea with
disdain – especially over misconceived talks with North Korea. He indulged
rabble-rousers such as Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines president, antagonised
Pakistan, yet still failed to significantly enhance ties with India.
The fierce
mutual animosity currently poisoning US-China relations is Trump’s most
troublesome geopolitical legacy. Before 2017, there was still an outside chance
that the old and new superpowers could find ways to get along. That’s gone.
China is now viewed by Americans of all stripes as the No 1 threat. Beijing’s aggressive
leadership is much at fault. But Trump’s trade and tech wars, Taiwan
brinkmanship and “Wuhan virus” rhetoric made everything worse.
Biden has
bought into the China fight, which looks set to continue. At the same time, he
must repair the harm caused by Trump’s inexplicably deferential attitude
towards Vladimir Putin in Russia – the backdrop to the Mueller inquiry and his
impeachment. This puzzle has yet to be solved. It surfaced again last week when
Trump downplayed Russia’s latest cyber attack.
In
appraising Trump’s foreign policy record, supporters point to his brokering of
new ties between Israel and Arab regimes – including the grandly named Abraham
Accords. If these deals lead to a broader, just settlement of the
Palestine-Israel conflict, claims of “historic” success may ultimately be
justified. To date, Trump’s main contribution has been to help entrench
Benjamin Netanyahu, a hard-right prime minister opposed by a majority of
Israel’s voters, who is on trial for alleged corruption.
In conflict
zones around the world, Trump’s America was largely absent without leave. He
vowed to end “forever wars”. But in Afghanistan his peace efforts camouflaged a
dishonourable scramble for the exit. He betrayed Kurdish allies in Syria,
falsely claimed to have beaten Isis, and ceded the battlefield to Bashar
al-Assad, Russia and Turkey. By wrecking the Iran nuclear deal, he made a
dangerous problem infinitely worse.
Trump fans
such as Fred Fleitz, writing for Fox News, conjure a mirror image of these
shameful derelictions. Trump “restored American leadership on the world stage,
put the interests of the American people ahead of the dictates of globalist
foreign policy elites, and kept our nation out of unnecessary wars”, Fleitz
wrote. Biden, he predicted, “will surrender US sovereignty to the United
Nations and Europe” and allow Russia and China to “walk all over the US”.
It’s
difficult to make sense of such seemingly distorted views. But that, in a
nutshell, is the great, bifurcating conundrum bequeathed by the Trump era.
Trump was a catastrophe for the climate crisis and the environment, for the
Covid emergency, for racial and gender equality, for the global fight against
poverty and hunger, and for the UN and multilateralism in general. In a connected
world, he cut the cord.
Trump
encouraged authoritarian “strongman” leaders such as Turkey’s Recep Tayyip
Erdoğan and Egypt’s dictator Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, and hooligans such as
Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro. He coddled autocrats such as Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed
bin Salman and Russia’s Putin. Worse, his lies eroded trust in democracy and
the rule of law, at home and abroad. Yet even as, properly and electorally
vanquished, he slowly departs, he continues to antagonise and divide – and to
be lionised by the right.
Maybe it’s
not that hard to see why. Trump’s personal brand of viciousness appealed to
every worst human instinct, justified every vile prejudice, excused every mean
and unkind thought. His is a blind ignorance that resonates with those who will
not or cannot see. Falsehood is always easier than truth. For these reasons,
Trump’s global legacy is Trumpism. It will live on – toxic, immoral, ubiquitous
and ever-threatening.
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