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MaddowBlog-Trump's boasts about international 'respect' ring tragic as allies turn against U.S.
The emerging picture is one in which leading nations see a Trump-led U.S. as an erratic menace, a once-great hegemonic power descending into madness.
Trump: “America is respected again on the world stage.â€
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-01-21T13:54:22.990Z
Reality: Longtime allies see a Trump-led U.S. as an erratic menace, a once-great hegemonic power descending into madness and risking global stability. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trumps-boasts-about-international-respect-ring-tragic-as-allies-turn-against-u-s
As the American president’s crusade to acquire Greenland intensifies, and as he imposes economic penalties on U.S. allies who balk at his demands, Trump’s claims of global respect have taken a dark turn. We’re no longer looking at an absurdity; we’re instead confronting a tragedy.
While Trump prepared to join other world leaders at the annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, The Wall Street Journal reported:
[blockquote]President Trump is showing up for an annual gathering of the global elite here in the Swiss Alps, swinging a wrecking ball at the international order. […]
The reactions from many U.S. allies and partners, some of them aired in public, many of them still only expressed in private, are stark: Trump’s America seems to have lost its mind.
The most dramatic example of such perceptions came during Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s prepared remarks at the gathering, in which he declared, “We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition.” Without explicitly referencing Trump, Carney went on to describe “the breaking of the world order,” a “brutal reality” in which leading world powers no longer feel “subject to any constraint” as they “abandon even the pretense of rules and values for the unhindered pursuit of their power and interest.”
Carney was not alone. French President Emmanuel Macron similarly made clear that his country would not capitulate to Trump’s bullying. Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said that he and his allies tried to “appease” the White House, but that those efforts have run their course.
“We were in a very bad position at the moment, we were dependent on the United States, so we chose to be lenient, but now so many red lines are being crossed that you have the choice between your self-respect,” he continued. “Being a happy vassel is one thing, being a miserable slave is something else. If you back down now, you’re going to lose your dignity, and that’s probably the most precious thing you can have in a democracy is your dignity.”......
The emerging picture is one in which leading nations — treaty allies, neighbors, trading partners and friends — see a Trump-led U.S. as an erratic menace, a once-great hegemonic power descending into madness and risking global stability.
In their wildest dreams, America’s foreign adversaries couldn’t have written a better script.
While Trump prepared to join other world leaders at the annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, The Wall Street Journal reported:
[blockquote]President Trump is showing up for an annual gathering of the global elite here in the Swiss Alps, swinging a wrecking ball at the international order. […]
The reactions from many U.S. allies and partners, some of them aired in public, many of them still only expressed in private, are stark: Trump’s America seems to have lost its mind.
The most dramatic example of such perceptions came during Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s prepared remarks at the gathering, in which he declared, “We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition.” Without explicitly referencing Trump, Carney went on to describe “the breaking of the world order,” a “brutal reality” in which leading world powers no longer feel “subject to any constraint” as they “abandon even the pretense of rules and values for the unhindered pursuit of their power and interest.”
Carney was not alone. French President Emmanuel Macron similarly made clear that his country would not capitulate to Trump’s bullying. Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said that he and his allies tried to “appease” the White House, but that those efforts have run their course.
“We were in a very bad position at the moment, we were dependent on the United States, so we chose to be lenient, but now so many red lines are being crossed that you have the choice between your self-respect,” he continued. “Being a happy vassel is one thing, being a miserable slave is something else. If you back down now, you’re going to lose your dignity, and that’s probably the most precious thing you can have in a democracy is your dignity.”......
The emerging picture is one in which leading nations — treaty allies, neighbors, trading partners and friends — see a Trump-led U.S. as an erratic menace, a once-great hegemonic power descending into madness and risking global stability.
In their wildest dreams, America’s foreign adversaries couldn’t have written a better script.