How Trump Has Broken Our Global Edge

It took less than a year for Donald Trump, Russell Vought, and a GOP-led Congress that is either cowardly or compliant to dismantle decades of American prestige. What they call “America First” is actually America alone – and that’s not good.

If Republicans had even the slightest bit of a spine, they would urge their golden idol to remember that wielding sticks on the world stage isn’t nearly as beneficial at offering carrots.

The chickens will come home to roost one day, and a betting person would probably put their money on Republicans hoping to be out of office by then so that they can try to lay blame on the other party.

The common jellyfish turns out to have a much stiffer spine than anyone in the Republican Party.

Trade Relationships? Severely Damaged.

While Trump’s stated goal with tariffs was to increase our economic power while taming the rest of the world, the opposite happened on a global scale. In January 2026, China reported a record-breaking global trade surplus of $1.19 trillion for 2025.

The Takeaway: While the Trump tariff regime has “succeeded” in reducing U.S. imports from China by 20–27%, the real effect has been to force China to strengthen ties with its other trading partners. Witness Canada’s recent overtures to Beijing (more below).
The Reality: Trump sold his tariffs as a way to punish foreign rivals; the reality is that he took a blowtorch to American wallets and levied a massive new tax on U.S. consumers and corporations. General Motors alone reported a $1.1 billion profit hit from these tariffs in a single quarter.

Under Trumps Tariff regime, China’s exports to the rest of the world have only gone up

An Abandoned Throne

Global leadership isn’t charity; it’s leverage. By destroying trade relationships, repeatedly attacking the United Nations, and threatening our NATO allies, Donald Trump isn’t saving us money—he is imposing an enormous strategic cost. He is effectively forcing us to walk away from the table we once sat at the head of.

China is ready to take that seat. They’ve already ousted us from much of Africa through their Belt and Road Initiative; it will be only a matter of time before that influence expands.

Already, Canada – one of our closest allies – is seeking to forge a new relationship with China on its own terms, rather than deferring to us. Trump has taken notice and threatened 100% tariffs on Canada under the asinine notion that he can threaten other countries into remaining our friends.

In other words: threatening with a stick instead of offering a carrot.

It took one year for Trump to send Canada off in search of a more loyal trading partner. If that was Trumps goal, he succeeded.

The Death of the American Word

Alliances aren’t just handshakes; they are built on credibility. By attacking NATO and questioning Article 5 — a clause only ever used to help us after 9/11 – Trump taught the world a dangerous lesson: An agreement with the U.S. expires the moment the next election begins.

The chaos has long been part of the Trump brand. Just this weekend, Trump again took to Truth Social to demean our northern neighbor, referring to Prime Minister Mark Carney as “Governor Carney.” It’s a deliberate insult to Canadian sovereignty, treating a G7 leader like a mid-level U.S. bureaucrat. The only result is to push Canada further away.

While visiting China last week, Carney noted that China would be a much more predictable “partner” than the United States has been. His response to Trump’s recent “51st state” threats was even sharper: “Canada doesn’t live because of the United States. Canada thrives because we are Canadian.“ The trust that took generations to build has taken but months to destroy.

When the U.S. on NATO after the 9/11 attacks, Prince Harry stepped up, only to hear Cadet Bone Spurs Trump try do diminish his role there.

And What of the Dollar?

The U.S. Dollar’s status as the global reserve currency isn’t a birthright; it’s a reflection of stability. When we stop being stable, the world stops trusting our currency and when that is lost “economic collapse will follow“. As a debtor nation, we are utterly dependent on the world continuing to have appetite for our dollars and our Treasury’s debt. Fortune Magazine said what the result of that will be most succinctly:

Worse, by destroying our trading relationships through tariffs, Americans buy fewer foreign goods—reducing the number of U.S. dollars circulating globally.

As we retreat from trade, our dollar stops being the world’s “must-have” currency. We aren’t just losing sales; we’re losing the power to print the world’s money. No one has bothered telling Trump that tariffs won’t fix it.

Trump has been quiet on the subject for a while now, but the last we heard from him on the subject was a threat of 100% tariffs on BRIC nations if they considered moving away from the dollar.

Again: a stick instead of a carrot.

The Republican Sabotage Cycle

Republican acquiesce to Trump’s carnage follows a classic GOP pattern.

Destroy the institutions that keep us stable and prosperous.
Delay the consequences so they hit after the next election.
Blame the ensuing chaos (inflation, weakened defense, slower growth) on the Democrats who have to clean up the mess.

America’s global role wasn’t a burden—it was our greatest strategic advantage. We traded defense spending for total global influence. Those decades of goodwill are now gone as the world moves ahead without us. As new parties sit at the table, the question will be: who will be at the table, and who will be on the menu?

I’m not saying that House Speaker Mike Johnson is on Grindr, but if someone had proof that he was, that person would probably have enough leverage to cause Johnson to rapidly support policies that would destroy his own country.