U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at Camp David in Thurmont, Maryland, U.S., July 31, 2026. REUTERS/Daniel Heuer
On Monday, amid news that President Donald Trump is destroying longstanding U.S. alliances, coddling adversaries and considering the use of nuclear weapons, a prominent American diplomat called for bipartisan recognition of the historic danger presented by the Commander in Chief’s "unchecked narcissism" and “absolute cognitive failure.” This is according to attorney Andrew Weinstein, former delegate to the United Nations, who took to social media to raise the alarm.
“We are past the point of political disagreement,” posted Weinstein. “We are witnessing a catastrophic collision between unchecked narcissism and obvious neurological decay. It is the most dangerous intersection in American history: a man with the absolute power of the Presidency and the absolute cognitive failure of a person no longer tethered to reality.” He continued, “Turns out U.S. military readiness becomes strangely flexible when the priority is not upsetting a dictator who runs forced labor camps, starves his own people as punishment, and executes citizens for watching foreign media.”
Weinstein wasn’t the only diplomat to express such sentiments. Former Foreign Service Officer and ambassador Luis Moreno posted, “Please, folks, please, please, take note. Trump is siding with North Korea’s murderous regime over our long standing ally, democratic South Korea. Earth shattering, destructive foreign policy. And frankly, an unprecedented betrayal.”
Trump’s Sunday announcement that the U.S. would reduce its participation in joint military exercises with South Korea has shocked commentators who note not only that the country has been a staunch ally for decades, but that Trump — who describes North Korea as “unthreatening and respectful” — seems to be more interested in developing his “very good” relationship with Kim Jong-Un.
“North Korea’s dictator sends more troops to kill Ukrainians, and shockingly, our president gives him a new gift and gets nothing in return. Trump is so bad at foreign policy,” declared former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul. “Trump has very weak public support for most of his imprudent, self-damaging foreign policies. Few Americans support his disastrous failure of a war against Iran, berating/abandoning our allies in Europe and Asia, annexing Greenland or the Strait of Hormuz, imposing tariffs irrationally and emotionally, and embracing dictators. He wasn’t elected to do any of these things. He is just ad libbing, driven entirely by his own personal impulses. And tragically, those around him are too timid to try to constrain his worst ideas.”
Republicans have been characteristically hesitant to criticize Trump. One of the few conservative lawmakers who did voice concern about the news regarding the Korean peninsula was Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), who declared, “South Korea has been a solid military ally for over 70 years that possesses exquisite military capabilities. Reducing joint exercises with South Korea does nothing more than free up thousands of North Korea's troops to support Putin's systematic kidnapping, torture, rape, and murder of innocent Ukrainian citizens.”
“No kidding,” responded Moreno. “So what are you going to do about it?”