APD Review | Trump and his dangerous illusion of U.S. hegemony

By APD writer Lu Jiafei

Washington, Mar.4 (APD) - First, it was his casual embrace of a potential arms race; then, the epic threat to punish anyone that opposes his fateful decision on the contentious status of Jerusalem. Now, Donald Trump the Bully- in- Chief is starting a trade war globally.

More than any of his predecessors, the current tenant of the White House embraces confrontation, rather than cooperation, as the primary approach to foreign affairs.

While we are far too familiar with Trump’s bellicosity, the underlying reason for his frequent nods to confrontational means has been neglected. Now is the time to face the bitter fact.

In his latest move to pander to supporters, Trump on Thursday announced that he would impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum.

The ill- advised protectionist trade policy again exposed the massive divergence within the Trump administration on crucial policies, with Trump’s top economic adviser Gary Cohn and the Republican establishment fiercely fighting against such a move.

Unsurprisingly, Trump’s announcement immediately drew ire worldwide, with virtually all America’s major trading partners threatening retaliatory measures.

Unlike most leaders, Trump has so far signaled that instead of eschewing a trade war, he was actually seeking one.

“When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win,” Trump tweeted on Friday.

“Example, when we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they get cute, don't trade anymore-we win big. It's easy!” he wrote.

It remains possible that Trump the political novice did not understand the significance and long- term effect of the tariff and was only subscribing to the short- term appeal of such protectionist move to appease frustration of his supporters.

It is also possible that the outburst online was again the gut reaction from a man notoriously known as a counter- puncher.

But still, Trump’s easy embrace of a trade war follows a troubling pattern.

In the December 2016, then President-elect Trump stunned the world by appearing to endorse a new round of arms race in a TV interview.

“Let it be an arms race,” said Trump then. “We will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all.”

The gist of incendiary remarks then and now was the same: the United States is still the only superpower in the world and because of its economic and military might, the United States can take unilateral actions whenever it sees suitable. There is no such thing as “win- win.” Only the United States wins and others lose.

If others ever dare to resist the U.S. hegemony, be prepared to meet U.S. fury. And no matter how ugly the confrontation would turn out to be, the United States would always come out on top.

For those who have argued before that Trump’s presidency would usher in an era of smaller U.S. footprint globally, the latest episode should serve as a wake- up call. Rather than representing a fresh start, Trump is the epitome of crazy recklessness.

Unfortunately, this powerful disruptor mistakenly believes that the United States can weather unscathed the havoc he personally wreaked.

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)