A century of progress has been undone in 100 days

The US era of liberalism is over and we're heading towards something new, writes Gabriel Gatehouse. Here, he wonders whether Trump will be remembered as America's first 'king'

- Gabriel Gatehouse

It was Franklin Delano Roosevelt's administration that first used the arbitrary yardstick of 100 days to measure its early achievements. In the teeth of the great depression, FDR rammed 15 major pieces of legislation through Congress, acts that became the backbone of the New Deal. He supercharged the power of the federal government and used it as a defibrillator to shock the American economy back to life. Roosevelt’s first 100 days were a whirlwind.

The New Deal – and the Second World War – set the stage for the rise of America as the world’s pre-eminent superpower. For almost the next 100 years, the United States bestrode the world as an unrivalled global behemoth of liberalism, both economic and social. Somewhere in these first 100 whirlwind days of Trump’s second term, it feels like that era ended.

Did the Roman citizenry of the late 5th century realise that Rome had fallen? Sure, they would have been cognisant that, in AD476, an enfeebled emperor had been deposed by a barbarian rabble rouser of German descent who had little regard for the political traditions of the once-great empire. But the senate continued to meet, under the auspices of the new ruler who called himself a king and contented himself with a domain that constituted a fraction of the empire’s former reach. Italy first.

When exactly was it that the American century expired? People will argue about the precise moment. Was it the Zelensky meeting in the Oval Office? It’s a credible candidate. For eight decades, the United States had been the ultimate backstop, the guarantor of peace in Europe. In the capitals of Europe, a sickening realisation dawned: America no longer has our backs.