Thirty-Seven Minutes and No Ovation

Alone and on the Wrong Side of History

A President of the United States, so wrapped up in his own very bizarre vision of the world that appears to be shared by very few other nations, addressed the United Nations General Assembly on September 24^th to an audience not remotely interested in what he was proposing. Indeed, his admonitions and recommendations to the world were obviously not intended for those seated before him. Donald John Trump was under siege from the opening of a Congressional impeachment inquiry over his request of a foreign power (Ukraine) to re-investigate “corruption” in Joe Biden’s family (his son Hunter was working in Ukraine, but no nasty evidence was ever found), a political rival.  No, Mr. Trump wasn’t talking to the world; he was really just rallying his base… and probably no one else.

The UN was focused on climate change this time around. On September 23^rd, Trump spent only a few minutes listening to on-topic presenters before he simply left. Instead, at his main address on the 24^th, he picked up on a theme that only has serious traction in the United States with his evangelical following: religious persecution of Christians and Christian missionaries overseas. He also demanded that abortions worldwide be stopped. To a world that thinks of the United States as a rogue, gun-crazy land of mass shootings, additionally, he railed against threats to American gun ownership by liberals.

As the world has watched the separation of children from their parents at the US border, with global sympathies clearly on the side of hapless refugees traveling vast distances to escape the ultra-violence of their home countries, he spoke of the “vicious coyotes” smuggling dangerous immigrants across the US southern border. “Today, I have a message for those open-border activists who cloak themselves in the rhetoric of social justice. Your policies are not just. Your policies are cruel and evil. You are empowering criminal organizations,” Trump claimed. Nothing worse than toddler-criminals, I always say.

As China continues to step in and pick up giving foreign aid where the United States departs, enters into multinational treaties and generally resonates with popular global themes (free trade and fighting climate change), Trump ripped into the PRC and their economic dominance… forgetting that most of the world already believes that the United States is the biggest economic bully on earth. The world shudders as these two great powers battle in a trade war, which could easily trigger a global recession.

Notwithstanding that even America’s traditional allies are unwilling to join with Trump on a possible military effort against Iran – caused they believe by Trump’s unilateral abrogation of a functioning UN accord that was effectively containing Tehran’s nuclear weapons program – Trump ramped up his anti-Iran rhetoric, demanding that the world join the United States in containing Iran. “As long as Iran’s menacing behavior continues, sanctions will not be lifted… All nations have a duty to act… No responsible nations should subsidize Iran’s blood lust.” The silence was deafening.

He warned of the perils of “socialism,” even as most of his base doesn’t even know what the word really means (no private ownership, all farms and factories are government-owned, not a remote threat in the United States). Despite the increase in world trade and rapidly expanding multinational treaties, accelerating workarounds to sidestep US sanctions and trade barriers, Trump touted the end of globalization, stating that “The future does not belong to globalists… The future belongs to patriots.” He championed nationalist zealots with tightly sealed borders. America First? America really alone!

That Donald Trump’s vectors flow in precisely the opposite direction of the majority of countries on earth, particularly the world’s democracies, while he believes that he represents a global majority is more a reflection of a form of narcissism that makes it almost impossible to lead the United States or convince other nations to help us achieve what best serves most Americans. His America First slogan seems to be producing a global consensus: America no longer matters.

              I’m Peter Dekom, and I wonder just how much Trump’s fallacious and antagonizing view of the world will cost his followers… in hard dollars and quality of life.