The American Paradox: The Horrible Logic Behind Donald Trump’s Worldview
In a world where the United States remains the “indispensable nation” for defending vulnerable countries, a paradox emerges. The US can treat these countries as dispensable, creating a horrible logic behind Donald Trump’s worldview. This paradox is rooted in the fact that the US is almost impregnable, with hardly any event off its shores affecting it. While the free world needs the US, the US may not need the free world.
The story of Nazi saboteurs landing on American soil during World War II serves as a reminder of the US’s near impregnability. The largest incursion into the American mainland by a hostile state in the past century, this event highlights the US’s ability to defend itself. Even if Trump were to abandon Ukraine and other democracies, the US would likely be just fine.
The US’s role as a global policeman peaked with the D-Day landings, an act of American altruism that saved Europe. However, the US’s postwar architecture, including institutions like the UN and NATO, benefited the world more than it did Americans. Global trade has only had a marginal impact on American prosperity, with the US’s trade-to-GDP ratio at just 25 percent compared to other countries like China, Russia, and Germany.
American military hawks have long argued for intervention in the world based on false premises. They claimed that intervention was necessary for US security and that it could be successful. However, the US has only won one war since 1945, and military failures in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan did not endanger its security. The truth is that no country seriously contemplated attacking the US, and the only genuine threat was from intercontinental nuclear missiles.
The purpose of the US military goes beyond security. It serves as a job creation scheme, a virility symbol, a stimulus package for politically powerful regions, and a state subsidy for arms companies. Even when the military does fight, the death toll is often higher at home from issues like gun violence, drug abuse, and mental health problems.
Trump understands that Americans see their scariest enemies within their own borders. This is why every foreign war is converted into an American culture war. The belief that the Soviets were going to attack during the 1950s led to the McCarthyite hunt for American communists. Today, conflicts like Israel’s war in Gaza and Ukraine’s fight for survival become political weapons to bash opponents.
Trump’s political genius lies in expressing aspects of the American id that were once taboo in Washington. He wants to hurt the world beyond the US and believes that the impregnable US could go it alone. He sees allies as clients and views NATO as a US-run protection scheme with Russia as the muscle to scare Europeans into paying up.
While Trumpian isolationism could potentially destroy Ukraine and embolden aggressors worldwide, the distant screams would only fuel new American culture wars. Trump’s worldview taps into a fundamental aspect of Americans’ fears, where their scariest enemies are within their own borders.
In conclusion, the American paradox lies in the US’s near impregnability and its ability to treat vulnerable countries as dispensable. Donald Trump’s worldview reflects this paradox, where he believes that the US can go it alone and downgrade allies to clients. While this worldview may have dire consequences for countries like Ukraine, it also feeds into the American culture wars that have long defined the nation.