The honeymoon is over for Trump, whose every misstep brings chaos

If Robert K Merton, the founding father of American sociology, were alive today, he'd be fascinated by the Donald Trump phenomenon.

- Simon Tisdall

Scarcely more than 50 days into his second presidential term, hapless Trump provides daily proofs of Merton's universal "law of unintended consequences". Rooted in ignorance, error, wilful blindness and self-defeating prediction, Trump's rash actions produce contradictory, harmful and often opposite results to those he says he wants. The ensuing chaos characterises what may become the briefest honeymoon in White House history.

Boomeranging US tariffs - which are to American prosperity what the Titanic was to ocean travel - are the tip of the unintended consequences iceberg. Defiant foreign retaliation has brought stock market crashes and inflation fears - the exact opposite of what Trump promised voters.

After Trump's threats to invade Canada, loyal subjects of King Charles III are up in arms, booing the Star-Spangled Banner, boycotting US goods and retaliating with their own tariffs. Trump has revived the fortunes of Justin Trudeau's Liberal party. Under the new "elbows up" leadership of the former Bank of England chief Mark Carney, it has a good chance of winning this year's election on an anti-Trump platform. That was not the plan.

Likewise, Greenland's voters, stung by a proposed imperialist annexation, told Trump to take a hike last week. They are undecided about independence but definitely reject US (or Danish) domination. Had there been any tea to spare in Nuuk, they would surely have tossed Trump and it into the harbour.

Trump's Ukraine surrender policy is another calamity. Russia is the aggressor, yet he punishes the victim. US pressure for a ceasefire is all one way - on Kyiv.