Emeritus Prof. Christopher May
If we have learnt one thing in the last decade it is that Donald Trump cannot be trusted... and any national leader who doesn't proceed on the basis of that one fact is a fool.
(Some of you might argue this is really not so novel, US Presidents have never been trustworthy, and that may be right, but the Tangerine Tyrant doesn't even seek to maintain the useful pantomime of international affairs; which has been destructive, but perhaps also useful?)
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@ChrisMayLA6 I would disagree. Past presidents have shown that they understand the value in honoring commitments made by past administrations, even where they disagree with those agreements, because they recognize that enhances their own bargaining position in creating trade deals, alliances and trans-national institutions.
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@ChrisMayLA6 Trump recognizes none of this and betrays his own word whenever it suits him. He's made the US into a country that nobody trusts for any sort of long term cooperation. Its all "cash on the barrel" deals conducted with all the trust of a wholesale cocaine deal in a sketching warehouse from here on out.
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@ChrisMayLA6 And even after America has turned the page on Trump's regime, countries are going to be extremely wary and rightly so of a country with an electorate so unwise as to elect a rabid dog like Trump twice and the institutional weakness of our supposed system of checks and balances in staying the power of a man who has squarely been in evil mad king territory for a good long while.
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@ChrisMayLA6 I think even after Trump is gone, other nations will rightfully consider in their dealings that the US might elect someone just as bad in <4 years. Basically, by the time a future POTUS has dealt with others on the world stage long enough to build some level of personal trust, their time is almost up. That's not a good basis for long term collaboration.
Emeritus Prof. Christopher May
I agree with most of what you say, and certainly the US has (like many countries in the past) for the most part kept agreements, because it is sensible to do so (which is why international law is followed by most states, most of the time)... however, while US Presidents have been unreliable in the past, you are right that the Tangerine Tyrant is of a different order of magnitude as regards lack of trustworthiness
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