The World According To Trump

USA will not tolerate an imbalanced relationship, and Europe should be responsible for its own security. In other words, US commitment to NATO and Europe has reduced, raising ripples across the continent.

- AJAY SINGH

When President Donald Trump came up with the idea of relocating Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, clearing the area and converting the coastal enclave into "The Riviera of the Middle East," it would have been laughed off, had it not come from the most powerful man in the world. The removal of over 2 million people from their homes found enthusiastic support in Israel, but met with revulsion and anger everywhere else. Implausible as the idea may seem, it revealed the mind of President Trump in his vision to make America great again, and shape the world in his own perception.

USA also offered to buy Greenland from Denmark – a statement that prompted Denmark to increase its meagre defence budget and announce coldly that the territory is not up for sale. And even as he set about using federal troops to block the Mexican border, he outraged his northern neighbour by announcing, "Canada can be the 51st state of the USA and its Prime Minister, a Governor."

To add fuel to the fire, he declared his intention to take back the Panama Canal from Panama and rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America since, "It has a nice ring to it." These are not ideal pronouncements. They reflect a mindset that could well set about making these utterances a reality. Trump has also walked out of global institutions, and in one of his first steps, withdrew from the Paris Summit, thus making the world’s largest carbon emitter, a passenger in the fight against global warming. It withdrew from the WHO and imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court over its actions to declare Israeli Prime Minister, Netanyahu as a war criminal. And also closed down the US Agency for International Development (USAID), affecting the funding to over 120 nations.

US aid has been used to exert undue influence in many nations, like Bangladesh and even India, and it may not be too bad, but these actions will lead to a gradual weakening of global institutions.