From Global Leader to Rogue Nation: How Trump’s Policies Are Destroying U.S. Influence

There was a time when the world could count on the United States. That time is over.

Not because we were conquered. Not because we were outmatched. But because we let it slip away. Because we turned on each other. Because we have allowed one man to turn our institutions into weapons of vengeance, our laws into tools of self-preservation, and our global leadership into a sideshow of pettiness and destruction.

For most of the post-World War II era, the United States was the pillar of global stability. We were the axis upon which the modern world turned. We led in defending democracy, upholding international law, ensuring economic security. The Pax Americana—however flawed—kept the world in relative balance.

But today, the U.S. is no longer a stabilizer. It is a destabilizer. The country that once defended order now manufactures chaos. And no single person is more responsible for this shift than Donald Trump.

For the past ten years, even when he wasn’t in office, Trump dictated the direction of U.S. foreign policy, economic strategy, and domestic governance. He has been the single most destabilizing force in modern American history. This is not just about a second Trump presidency. This is about a decade-long transformation of America from a superpower into a global risk factor.

The collapse of global order didn’t begin with Trump. But he accelerated it in ways once thought unimaginable. When the Cold War ended, the U.S. stood uncontested as the world’s superpower. The American Century was supposed to endure. But instead of fortifying our institutions, we let them rot.

The Republican Party, once a champion of American strength abroad, turned its gaze inward—away from foreign adversaries, toward its own countrymen. Newt Gingrich redefined politics as war. The Tea Party turned governance into siege. By the time Trump arrived, the GOP had already abandoned policy for grievance, and he gave them what they had been waiting for: a demagogue who didn’t just hate Democrats, but democracy itself.

This shift created a party that no longer seeks to govern—it seeks only to rule. Some argue that Trump’s nationalism was a necessary correction after decades of globalization. But economic nationalism does not have to be isolationist or erratic. Trump’s reckless trade wars, unilateral tariffs, and deliberate antagonism toward U.S. allies weren’t about strengthening America—they were about punishment.

While past administrations leveraged economic power to build alliances, deter adversaries, and reinforce global stability, Trump wields it as a weapon of sabotage, turning America’s economic influence against its own allies.

It is often said that being an ally of Trump’s United States is more perilous than being its adversary—and the evidence overwhelmingly supports this claim. From his first term to his current tenure, Trump has systematically undermined, alienated, and even punished traditional allies, all while extending deference and admiration to authoritarian regimes that seek to weaken U.S. influence.

Most world leaders—even deeply flawed ones—possess some level of strategic thinking, intellectual curiosity, or adaptability. Trump has none of these qualities. He does not study or understand history, governance, or diplomacy. He acts purely on personal vendetta, making policy decisions based on who flatters him and who offends him.

And because of this, Trump is a global threat multiplier. Under his leadership, every crisis escalates. A trade imbalance becomes an economic war. A foreign policy dispute spirals into reckless provocation. A public health emergency is worsened by denial, misinformation, and negligence.

His tariffs on China led to $316 billion in lost U.S. GDP, but benefited Beijing, which strengthened its trade alliances elsewhere. The European Union responded with countertariffs, hitting American manufacturers and farmers hardest. Trump’s economic nationalism did not protect America. It isolated it.

But it is not just his incompetence that is dangerous.

It is his vindictiveness. His ability to turn personal grudges into state policy, to weaponize the full machinery of government against his enemies.

We saw this when he withheld intelligence from Ukraine, weakening their strategic defenses and emboldening Russia.
We saw it when he sabotaged pandemic mitigation for political gain, leading to hundreds of thousands of preventable American deaths.
We saw it when he incited a mob to storm the Capitol, then sat back and watched as his followers hunted down lawmakers.

Trump does not lead. He reacts. And he reacts poorly.

Before Trump, presidential transitions followed an unwritten rule: past leaders stepped aside. Bush did not undermine Obama. Clinton did not interfere with Bush. But Trump defied this norm, behaving as a shadow leader. Even after leaving office, he held private meetings with world leaders, contradicting official U.S. policy. He praised Putin while attacking NATO. He signaled to allies that America was no longer reliable.

And the damage is not theoretical. Since Trump took office, the U.S. has suffered its worst diplomatic retreat since the Vietnam era. NATO allies now hedge their bets. Europe has increased defense spending—not just in response to Russian aggression, but out of uncertainty over whether America itself has become a risk factor.

In Asia, China’s influence has grown as regional leaders no longer trust the U.S. to be a stabilizing force. Even America’s own military leaders have warned of Trump’s erratic decision-making. Former Secretary of Defense James Mattis put it bluntly:

“Trump does not even pretend to try to unite the country.”

This is How Superpowers Fall

This is how superpowers fall.

Not with one war.
But with a thousand self-inflicted wounds.
Not because they are defeated.
But because they surrender to their own decline.

Restoring global trust will require more than reversing Trump-era policies. It will require:

✔ Rebuilding alliances.
✔ Reaffirming NATO commitments.
✔ Undoing the economic damage of Trump’s reckless trade wars.
✔ Reforming democratic institutions to prevent future authoritarian drift.

But most of all, America must confront an uncomfortable truth.

Trump was not an anomaly.

He was the product of a party that embraced authoritarianism, a system that rewarded spectacle over competence, and a media ecosystem that replaced journalism with propaganda.

The guardrails that should have restrained him failed.
Not because they were weak—
but because too many people abandoned them in service of power.

History will not ask what Trump did to America.
It will ask why America let him.