As Trump completes his first 100 days in the White House, having signed 142 executive orders to expand his executive power, two major events marked his power grab: One, Mark Carney, the Liberal Party’s candidate, won the election in Canada and will continue as Prime Minister, because he is seen as the one Canadian politician best able to stand up to Trump; and two, Trump is tanking in the polls as the chaos of his second term turns voters off.
All polls tell the same story, including Fox News: Trump has the lowest ranking in 80 years:
In only 100 days, Trump has achieved the impossible: he’s managed an authoritarian coup, turning America into a “rogue state.” And the whole world is reevaluating its view of the United States. The world order we’ve known since World War II, with America acting as a foundational world leader for democracy, is gone for good.
Quick disclosure: I attended Columbia University in the 1960s and watched the Civil Rights movement develop; those were exciting times. And now, when I look at the US, I can hardly believe what I see: democracy collapsing while the country is withdrawing from the world stage!
And it all happened in my lifetime: America, once at the pinnacle of world leadership when it helped establish the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank, now a lawless country, grabbing people in the street and throwing them in jail or deporting them to a foreign goulag without due process, even arresting a judge and voting at the United Nations together with the likes of North Korea and Russia.
The shining “city on the hill” is no more.
Therefore, we must accept the new status quo imposed by Trump: a major player, the United States of America, has withdrawn from international law and is now attempting to impose a new set of rules on the world that would effectively undermine international collaboration.
Trump’s MAGA agenda calls for America First and expects each country to prioritize its interests, putting its own needs first.
Trump and his team, including the Treasury Secretary Bessent, have made it quite clear: In their mind, America First doesn’t mean America Alone. But that’s wishful thinking. America First does mean America Alone, because international collaboration can only exist in a situation of mutual respect, of give and take.
If America insists on walking away with everything because it is “first,” then collaboration is no longer possible. When you attack your allies — Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Greenland, Denmark, the European Union, the UK, in short, everyone with whom the US has tried to build friendly relations over the past 80 years — you inevitably find yourself alone.
However, international collaboration outside of the United States still exists.
So expect the world outside US borders to band together and find ways to continue and maintain the institutions and modus operandi that characterized the pre-Trump order: The United Nations and its range of technical agencies, the World Health Organization, the World Trade Organization, Unicef, Unesco, FAO, the World Food Programme and more, as well as foundational sister institutions like the World Bank and the IMF. That won’t change. Perhaps Trump will eventually withdraw the U.S. from NATO, but it is not yet a given.
What next?
To every catastrophe, there’s a silver lining.
The reaction outside the United States: The world is brought together by Trump’s trade war. The reaction is especially clear in Europe: Here it could make a huge difference.
Trump’s reciprocal tariffs – after all, they are only “on pause” for 90 days – and his repeated calls on Europe to start paying for its own defense have acted as a wake-up call for Europe. And about time too, Europeans had been lulled into sleep, or arguably infantilized by the military security provided by the United States.
EU Commission’s Ursula von der Leyen was quick to respond on several fronts, seeking not only to “re-arm” Europe but make it ready for 2030. She has adopted a multi-faceted strategy:
- In defense: Increasing military spending to meet NATO’s 2% of GDP target and investing in joint defense capabilities; also pushing for greater collaboration within its defense industry to reduce reliance on external suppliers, especially the US (including initiatives to boost research and procurement of European-made military equipment); and getting ready for 2030: Within five years, the goal is to “future-proof” Europe against American withdrawal by investing in new technologies, preparing for hybrid warfare, and cybersecurity threats;
- In international trade: the EU is actively pursuing new trade agreements and strengthening existing ones with partners in South America, Africa, and Asia, including efforts to finalize the EU-Mercosur trade deal, deepen ties with African nations and others, such as Canada; the EU is also seeking to secure critical raw materials, such as lithium and rare earth elements, which are essential for the green transition and digital economy, and this involves forging partnerships with resource-rich countries in Africa, South America and even Europe (like Ukraine);
- In foreign policy: The EU is building alliances to counterbalance any negative effects from changing US policy, reaching out to all like-minded countries, including those in the Indo-Pacific region; and it is boosting the EU’s Global Gateway Initiative, an alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative; this initiative with a focus on sustainable and values-based partnerships aims to invest in infrastructure and connectivity projects in developing countries;
- Strengthening the EU’s own economic resilience and establishing technological and green transition leadership: This involves boosting:
- Industrial Strategy to achieve competitiveness in key sectors, such as green technologies, digital technologies, and pharmaceuticals, calling for more investment in research, innovation, and skills development;
- Digital Sovereignty by promoting European data infrastructure, artificial intelligence development, and cybersecurity capabilities, with the aim of reducing reliance on US and Chinese tech giants;
- Green Transition: It remains a central pillar of the EU strategy and involves investing in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable technologies.
This latter point, Europe’s lead role in the green transition, positioning itself as a world leader, is not just a point of trade but also of major influence with developing nations.
In essence, von der Leyen’s strategy is a comprehensive effort to enhance Europe’s geopolitical and economic resilience, preparing it for a potentially more challenging global environment.
Expect China, India, and other BRICS member countries to follow suit.
Trump has started an economic race that does not involve the United States. Indeed, Trump’s trade war has also given a new shine to China, which is suddenly no longer seen by Europeans through the eyes of Washington. Is a collaboration possible? Probably.
The reaction within the United States: For now, the opposition has been largely silent. We’ve heard little from the Democrats, except for one successful campaign carried by AOC and Bernie Sanders across the United States. And big business has been equally silent, except for Chase Manhattan’s Jamie Dimon, who, fearing a recession triggered by Trump’s trade war, expressed disapproval with comments that are said to have induced Trump to put his “reciprocal tariffs” on a 90-day pause.
But now we are seeing a series of strong responses. American citizens appear to have woken up to the danger of Trump’s power grab. And this is not just manifested in the polls.
Harvard University is fighting back and suing.
Goldman Sachs’ shareholders have rejected Trump’s anti-DEI efforts with an overwhelming majority of 98 percent.
Solitary intellectuals, such as historian Anne Applebaum and former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, who bravely stood up to Trump, are no longer alone.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, a likely 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, made yesterday a searing “j’accuse” against Trump, calling for “mass protests.” He got a standing ovation from his audience in New Hampshire (the first primary state), and today, he’s not sorry that he did:
Of course, it’s early in the game; the next presidential election is still almost four years away, and Democrats are putting their hopes in the midterms. Whether they can regain control of Congress is still an open question.
And whether, by that time, Congress will be in a position to control Trump is a total unknown, particularly as Trump’s power grab, a de facto slow-moving authoritarian coup, continues to unfold, only slowed down so far by the Trump administration’s own incompetence.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here by the authors are their own, not those of impakter.com — Cover Photo Credit: r.nial.bradshaw
