Trump’s Foreign Relation Blunders Lower America’s Standing Abroad

By Kate Haverston

Robert De Niro has played a lot of hard-asses in his time, but lately, his best role is that of himself critiquing President Donald Trump. De Niro seems to be the only one unafraid to use the type of language Trump reserves for remarks about foreign countries in reference to the “baby-in-chief.”

The award-winning actor isn’t the first to cite Trump’s childish behavior. When it comes to foreign policy, the real-estate mogul who prides himself on deal-making can’t seem to play nice with others. In a single year, the man has cheapened USA’s image in global relations so profoundly, political satires like “Team America,” and “Idiocrasy” suddenly look more like truth than fiction.

Hey Taiwan, How’s the Weather?

With so many examples of Trump’s cluelessness, we might as well start at the beginning. Shortly after taking office, our hairpiece-wearing head-of-state dialed up the president of Taiwan. Which, at first blush, might seem innocent. However, no US president has spoken to Taiwan since 1979.

There is an element of strategy involved in running and representing a country. Even if many Americans don’t realize that the US and Taiwan aren’t on speaking terms, the president should know it. At a time when China is poised to become the world’s next great superpower, and holds the IOUs to many of USA’s accounts payable, endangering relations with the eastern power is a dumb idea.

What Human Rights?

Trump has been a uniter, not a divider, at least in some accounts. He visited the Philippines and met with newly-elected president Rodrigo Duterte. That might be a positive thing, except that Duterte made global news shortly after his election for running a bloody anti-drug campaign that saw offenders murdered on the streets by the thousands.

When asked if he pressed Duterte on human rights, Trump had nothing to say. It might seem like a simple decision not to intervene with another country’s business — except that a large contingent of the world’s powers disagree with what Duterte is doing as a violation of human rights. The USA is supposed to be among those nations but failed to lead thanks to Trump’s ignorant policy and admiration of authoritarian leaders.

About Those African Nations

How could we discuss Trump’s remarkably bad foreign policy without mentioning one of his most monumental faux pas of recent memory, his statements about Haiti and all African nations during a private meeting with Congress members that was supposed to help us find a solution for DACA dreamers.

That any world leader would think that use of the word “shithole” is acceptable from someone in his role defies all reason.

Rick McKee / Augusta Chronicle

But he wasn’t done there. He went on to suggest that Norwegians — who enjoy things like social healthcare that works and a world-class standard of living the United States can’t come close to matching — should immigrate to the states. It demonstrates Trump’s capacity to punch holes in America’s flagging reputation at a rate to which no other living being can even aspire.

A Dangerous Paradigm Shift

The statements were not just offensive to those countries. They were the perfect example of how Trump is lowering the bar for American presidents. Americans should all be well-aware of the way that our next leader will be obligated to set a much higher standard.

If we Americans do not set a higher standard we risk living in a world where the USA no longer has an influential voice in global relations.