Donald Trump has long been preoccupied with the United States’ international standing. As his first term came to an ignominious end, the Republican delivered a strange farewell address in which he found it necessary to tell Americans, “The world respects us again.” The Republican added, in an apparent message for his Democratic successor, “Please don’t lose that respect.”
None of this made any sense. International public-opinion research found that the United States’ global stature soared during Barack Obama’s presidency, collapsed during Trump’s first term, and then recovered during Joe Biden’s presidency. Trump had the entire story backwards.
And yet, the incumbent president has apparently convinced himself that he, and he alone, can restore the country’s international standing, despite reality. Indeed, in his second inaugural address, Trump declared, “From this day forward, our country will … be respected again all over the world.”
Twelve days later, Canadians started booing our national anthem during sporting events. HuffPost reported:
Canadian hockey fans weren’t so friendly toward the United States national anthem on Saturday after President Donald Trump sparked a trade war by imposing new tariffs on most goods from their country. … The latest boos for the anthem arrived after Trump hit America’s northern neighbor with 25% tariffs on most goods ― with the exception of oil, which will face a lesser surtax ― coming from the country.
The report highlighted incidents in Ottawa, Calgary and Montreal, as well as related booing in Toronto ahead of a basketball game.
On Sunday night, Trump published a message to his social media platform that read in part, “The response to Tariffs has been FANTASTIC!” Among congressional Republicans afraid of the president’s followers? Maybe. Among the United States’ closest allies? No.
Unfortunately for the White House — and those concerned about the United States’ reputation around the world — the booing in Canada was emblematic of a larger truth: The president’s goal of ensuring great respect for the United States appears to be failing quite spectacularly.
Recent polling in Denmark, for example, found that many Danes see the United States as a bigger threat than Iran and North Korea. (Denmark and the United States are NATO allies.) This came on the heels of a related survey that found only 6% of Greenland’s population wants to join the United States — an apparent White House priority. (Click the links for more information on the polls’ methodologies and margins of error.)
It was against this backdrop that Trump accused the European Union over the weekend of an “atrocity” that he failed to identify.
Meanwhile, as Panama turns to the United Nations, rejecting the White House’s campaign to reclaim the Panama Canal, the Republican continues to posture in provocative ways. “We’re gonna take it back,” Trump told reporters on Sunday night, referring to the Panama Canal, “or something very powerful is going to happen.”
But the American president isn’t just alienating people in North America, Europe, and Central America; he’s also taken an interest in a specific country in Africa. Trump wrote online over the weekend that he’s “cutting off all future funding to South Africa” as part of a newfound objection to the country’s current land reform policies.
“South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY,” the Republican wrote. “A massive Human Rights VIOLATION, at a minimum, is happening for all to see.” He made related comments on camera soon after.
During Trump’s first term, the United States’ global standing reached levels unseen since the dawn of modern polling. It’s reasonable to think our international respect will reach new depths in his second term.
