U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a press briefing at the White House, on the one-year mark into his second term in office, in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 20, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard
President Donald Trump's recent press conference commemorating the first year of his second term is coinciding with world leaders now no longer viewing the United States as a reliable superpower.
That's according to Sarah Longwell, who is publisher of the anti-Trump conservative website the Bulwark. In a Tuesday podcast alongside former Republican National Committee spokesperson Tim Miller and Bulwark editor Jonathan V. Last, Longwell asserted that the United States was rapidly losing its standing as a nation other countries want to emulate.
Miller began the exchange by observing that, with the annual summit in Davos, Switzerland approaching where world leaders meet with corporate executives and heads of major NGOs, the U.S. was being left behind because it was seen as a "menace on the world stage" under Trump's leadership. Longwell agreed, and pointed out that January 20, 2026 may be remembered in history for multiple reasons.
"We are in the middle, right now, on this day, of the total reshuffling of the world order," Longwell said. "What he did was just so insane and unserious that you want to laugh at him ... but actually, the way the world is reacting to whats happening is deadly serious."
The Bulwark publisher went on to argue that Americans were collectively "watching the sphere of influence of the United States be drowned out by our own insanity." She added that leaders of major European countries are now wondering what to do in the "power vacuum" that's being created on the global stage in the wake of Trump's second term.
"Just a couple of years ago, they were following America's lead ... because we are their allies," Longwell said, citing multiple examples from former President Joe Biden's administration. "Now, they're going to China and saying, 'you know what? You're the more stable superpower right now.'"
