President Donald Trump addresses the nation from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)
President Donald Trump is making the U.S. resemble the "fall of Rome" at an alarming rate, according to a new piece from The i Paper, as his aggressive policies increasingly turn the nation into a "friendless" pariah.
Writing for the outlet on Saturday, reporter Nick Bryant argued that the recent 250th anniversary celebrations in the U.S. had been turned into something more like "a season of national waning," despite Republicans hoping that the milestone would reinvigorate Trump and the party's electoral momentum. He added that the "decadence" and "gold trappings" in Washington, D.C., that are dominating Trump's attention invoke the "decline" and ultimate collapse of the Roman Empire.
"Donald Trump’s United States is becoming increasingly friendless," Bryant wrote. "American isolationism is conventionally thought of as an active choice by the United States itself. Now, as the age of America comes to an end, it is being imposed from outside by other countries, including long-standing allies. This week it was not the US President who was heralded as the leader of the free world, but the Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney who adopted the tone of a wartime leader in the trade dispute with Washington. 'You’re at war when you’re attacked, and we got attacked,' said the former Bank of England governor, channeling his inner Churchill. Carney has dispensed with the deferential default adopted by so many Western leaders towards Trump and again opted for defiance."
He added further: "A protracted dollar-for-dollar trade war would be more economically ruinous north of the border than south. But Canada has a significant economic arsenal. As Carney reminded his compatriots, it supplies 85 per cent of electricity imports, and 60 per cent of crude oil imports. It is also the largest customer for 26 US states, and a top three customer for 45. Trump, as well as threatening the destruction of the Canadian auto industry, has renamed Lake Ontario Lake America. Typically sophomoric, its the sort of stunt that again diminishes his office and his country."
Further "signs of America’s waning have abounded" throughout Trump's harsh summer months, Bryant added, highlighting the bruising scandals involving the USS Abraham Lincoln, the depleted military stockpiles, the pullback from joint exercises with South Korea and Israel's rejection of a proposed Gaza peace plan. He also noted that various European nations recently held a "coalition of the willing" meeting to address the ongoing Ukraine war, with the U.S. not involved at all and new U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham overseeing the proceedings, providing yet more evidence of the country's diminished stature as a global leader.
While the U.K. seems willing to continue the "special relationship" with the U.S. for now, Bryant noted that it is also in the process of "diversifying diplomatically by resetting its relationship with Beijing," signaling the decline of American influence.
"To say that 'America First' means America alone has become a cliché. More and more, it doubles as a truism," Bryant concluded. "Why, Trump is even thinking of rekindling his first term bromance with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. A summit between the two would highlight Trump’s isolation: 'Little Rocket man' and an incredibly shrinking US president."