Marginalizing America – Bully Backfire

I’ve simplified Donald Trump’s tactics many times: make up the “facts” you need and spread them widely and consistently (never waiver; get rid of people who contradict them) and then apply your “Art of the Deal” negotiating strategy to everybody: bully + hyperbole. The technique works only on two categories of people: groups who benefit directly by the goals of such manipulation and the desperate (including those who have no choice and who so much want it to be so). Unless selfish greed is so dominant in your value system that empathy is irrelevant, the better educated you are, the less effective is The Donald’s strategy.

And the litany of Trump’s unmet threats – from suing all those women who have accused him of sexual predation as he pledged during the primary to cutting diplomatic ties with a litany of nations that have opposed his trade policies, stance on Israel, etc. – is growing daily. The world treats his threats, tweets and utterances with an eye-roll and a hardening reality that they better get used to a world where they can ignore “America gone rogue” and implement a viable “workaround” based on concerted actions and reconfigured international treat arrangements that simply exclude the United States.

Given our vast military and economic power, that is no mean feat, but increasingly, that’s exactly what is happening. As manipulative Russia and economically-powerful China step into the void left by America’s missteps, I wonder if they are sending appropriate “thank you” notes to The Donald. Yet the Trump administration still seems to think that they can force the world to do their bidding anyway.

As the tool of the Trump-bully-method, our UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, took the threat from the Security Council that recently voted almost unanimously (hers was only “no,” the first US veto in six years) to reject the US’ recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital to the next level as the General Assembly, not subject to a US veto, took up the same vote. Mirroring her opening remarks in her first appearance at the UN last January, on December 19^th Haley sent a warning letter to the other UN member nations and tweeted: “At the UN we're always asked to do more & give more. So, when we make a decision, at the will of the American ppl, abt where to locate OUR embassy, we don't expect those we've helped to target us. On Thurs [12/21] there'll be a vote criticizing our choice. The US will be taking names.”

Catering to Trump’s evangelical base – virulent supporters of Israel which they believe must be strong enough to trigger the “war to end all wars,” Armageddon, the second coming of Christ to bring the “rapture” that, ironically, will kill all people (including all Jews) who do not adhere to evangelical precepts – Haley has been consistent at the United Nations on the official US perception that Israel is never fairly treated by that international body. Israel tends to generate overwhelmingly negative votes at the UN where her settlement policies and treatment of Palestinian citizens there are called into question.

Oh, and trust me, don’t assume that the weak Netanyahu Likud coalition government in Israel is the clear and unified stance of all Israelis; the Israeli Prime Minister’s local support is also eroding fast. Not quite as fast as American global influence, however. Nevertheless, with the US’ providing approximately 22% of the UN budget, a withdrawal American financial support for that body would be catastrophic.

Finding comfort in delivering as much in the way of non-monetary-issue support (his donors are an entirely different class of mega-wealthy players) to that evangelical base as he can, Donald Trump amplified on Haley’s threats and did a Trump-double-down. ABC News, December 20^th, reported: “‘I like the message that Nikki said yesterday [12/19] at the United Nations, for all these nations that take our money and then vote against us at the Security Council or they vote against us potentially at the Assembly, they take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars and then they vote against us -- well, we're watching those votes,’ Trump said.

“‘Our great citizens that love this country, they're tired of this country being taken advantage of and we're not going to be taken advantage of any longer,’ Trump added… Haley repeated that sentiment in another tweet Wednesday [12/20] evening, writing: ‘Referencing tomorrow's UN vote criticizing the US embassy move. In the words of the President, ‘Let them vote against us, we'll save a lot.’” Cut aid to any nation that votes against us on the Jerusalem issue? Riiiiight!

Well, surprise, surprise, guess what happened on December 21^st when the UN General Assembly actually voted… “In a collective act of defiance toward Washington, the United Nations General Assembly voted 128 to 9, with 35 abstentions, for a resolution demanding that the United States rescind its Dec. 6 declaration on Jerusalem, the contested holy city.   

“The resolution is nonbinding and therefore largely symbolic, but the vote indicated the extent to which the Trump administration’s departure from a 50-year international consensus on Jerusalem’s status has unsettled world politics and contributed to America’s diplomatic isolation… Major allies like Britain, France, Germany and Japan voted for the resolution, though some allies, like Australia and Canada, abstained.

“Carrying out a promise to his base of supporters, Mr. Trump upended decades of American policy with his decision on Jerusalem, aggravating an emotional issue that has festered since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, when the Israelis occupied the entire city.” New York Times, December 21^st. One of the nations that sided with the US in that General Assembly vote, Guatemala, was the only other nation (so far) to join the US in announcing a move of its embassy to Jerusalem.

Just looking at the above religiously-based map of Jerusalem, you can see how divisive accepting that city as the capital of the Jewish state can be. Violence erupted in Israel after the US recognition of Jerusalem as that nation’s capital, the Palestinians promptly declared that the United States is no longer an acceptable mediator for that Palestinian/Israeli dispute, and Vice President Pence was promptly disinvited from a scheduled meeting with top Palestinian officials. Trump’s base was delighted, but US international influence continue to plunge. Russian and Chinese officials were running numbers on how they can replace US foreign aid if Trump truly is stupid enough to pull the “foreign aid” plug as he has threatened.

There are very few countries in the world where siding with the Trump administration is a smart political move for popularly-elected leaders. Aside from the obvious “US enemies,” we are increasingly witnessing traditional allies, nations like Britain, France and Germany, distance themselves from Trump and his policies. Smart global politicians generally lose support when they do what Trump wants them to do and gain in popularity when they defy him. Guess what that means for the United States’ trying to bolster its global muscle?

So as Trump caters to his base, tries to reassert American international dominance through his military and economic posturing, we are in fact becoming one of the least credible nations in the world with dwindling influence to better American interests in the rest of the world. And if one president can undo decades of what other American presidents (Republican and Democratic) have done, how do we ever rebuild the value, our national credibility, as to any commitments we make through deed, policy or treaty?

I’m Peter Dekom, and the damage inflicted on the American people and our national best interests, foreign and domestic, by the Trump/GOP cabal may now be irreversible.