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By APD writer Lu Jiafei
Washington, Feb.23 (APD) - On Presidents’ Day, when Americans were commemorating the first president of the country George Washington and the services of all his successors, Donald Trump posted a seemingly sententious remark that left one wondering if the words were for others or rather for himself.
“Have a great, but reflective, President’s Day!” the current tenant of the White House tweeted, with a typo of the holiday name.
So, I decides to follow Trump’s suggestion and reflect on why I remains steadfast in the belief that Trump’s presidency poses a grave danger to world prosperity and peace.
To begin with, Trump’s “America First” mindset and his propensity to compete and go ahead of others, rather than to cooperate, is an assault on multilateralism.
Though Trump just entered his second year in office, he has
wreaked havoc on multilateralism to such an extent that his predecessor Barack Obama’s admonishment that “multilateralism regulates hubris” seemed almost outdated.
By attacking multilateral institutions such as the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, as well asadvocating for an end to free flow of people, trade and investment, Trump is maliciously causing the world to regress to a negative stage, where common set of rules no longer work, and countries eye others suspiciously.
Rather than being a fan of multilateral deals, Trump proudly proclaims his acceptance of bilateral deals as the norm. However, the problem with striking bilateral deals is that one- on- one negotiations do not create win- win situation. Inevitably, one side wins and the other loses.
In another word, Trump is promoting the zero- sum game globally, giving conflicts an upper hand over international cooperation.
And Trump the infamous bully shows no scruples about bullying others into submission.
In an interview with Forbes last year, he said that he could have it his way and still do much more business.
“If it doesn’t work out with a country, you give them a 30- day notice, and you either renegotiate or not,” said Trump.
Also, Trump’s tumultuous presidency has so far delivered a heavy blow to diplomacy.
In an unprecedented way, Trump in last October undercut his top diplomat Rex Tillerson’s diplomatic effort, escalating the ongoing nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula.
In the interview with Forbes last year, the bellicose president revealed that the reason for publicly upbraiding his chief diplomat for attempting to reopen a dialogue with the DPRK was nothing but “strengthening authority.”
Though Trump’s unreasonably reckless move back then was in line with his image of being epically thin- skinned, the episode served as a terrifying reminder that this thick- headed man does not even bother to understand how diplomacy works.
For him, his self- ego matters and his unquestionable authority matters. Therefore, when his subordinate Tillerson made a crucial statement on a potentially life- or- death matter- even when Tillerson’s remarks were strictly in line with the long- term official stance of the United States- it bothered Trump, who believed that Tillerson was stealing the limelight.
So he unleashed his anger and bitterness online like an ordinary netizen, not caring if such a folly would lead to catastrophic results.
For a whole year, pundits have raised concerns that this reality show star turned president may harbor a disdain for diplomacy.
Maybe he does. But the past year of turmoil has also proved him to be a leader that probably would never come to understand the complexity and significance of diplomacy.
Lu Jiafei, researcher of APD Institute. After spending one year in Palestine covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict between 2013 and 2014, Lu moved to Washignton, D.C. and covered the 2016 U.S. presidential election till the very end of Donald Trump’s upset victory. He is a political contributor to APD.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
