No, America is Not Respected
Thanks to Trump, we’re held in contempt even by our closest allies
I don't pretend to be an expert on Europe. I follow French media fairly closely, of course, and the UK somewhat... but I know very little about what's going on in most of the EU. French TV has quite a few "political talk" shows. Unlike American audiences, who want to hear what they already believe, French audiences prefer to watch serious discussion from differing points of view. That discussion is usually polite... but not always. 
Trump gets roasted, systematically, by all participants, regardless of political color. It would be political and media suicide to do less.
This article concords with what I see on French TV.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
There’s a real Baghdad Bob feel to pronouncements from the Trump administration these days. The war is going great! We’ve been totally victorious! Also, other countries — including China! — must immediately send ships to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, which the U.S. Navy isn’t doing because it’s too dangerous.
But this has been the pattern ever since Trump returned to power. Despite repeated failures to deliver on his campaign promises — remember how he was going to cut energy prices in half? — he and his minions have continually insisted that everything is wonderful, that everything they do is a triumphant success story. And he’s still doing it. On Thursday he told a rally that
Inflation is plummeting, incomes are rising, the economy is roaring back and America is respected again .
As I and others have documented ad nauseam, none of those economic assertions are true. Today, however, I want to focus on the bolded claim. Trump constantly insists, in speeches and social media posts, that he took over a weak, despised nation and restored its international reputation. This is clearly something that matters a lot to him and his sense of self-worth.
It’s also the total opposite of the truth.
A stunning poll from Politico — just released, but taken last month — confirms what I and other observers strongly suspected: America is now widely despised, despised like nobody has ever been despised before.
I don’t mean that we’re disliked, although that too. But this isn’t a case of oderint dum metuant — let them hate so long as they fear. Instead, the world increasingly holds America in contempt.
Our former friends no longer consider us trustworthy :
And they no longer believe that being a U.S. ally offers protection, that a good relationship with America will deter potential enemies from attacking them:
At this point, a plurality of the population in every one of our erstwhile allies considers China a more reliable partner than the United States:
And outside the United States, China, not America, is widely perceived as the great power of the future:
If this is world respect, what would world contempt look like?
Why has America’s global reputation fallen so far, so fast? It’s not a mystery.
After all, why would anyone consider America a trustworthy ally when Trump keeps insulting our neighbor and former closest ally, Canada, by insisting that it must become the 51 st state and repeatedly calling its Prime Minister “governor”? Why trust us when Trump tried to bully NATO member Denmark into handing over Greenland?
Beyond that, Trump’s tariffs aren’t just economically damaging. They aren’t just, as the Supreme Court finally ruled, illegal under our own laws. They are also in clear, overwhelming violation of international trade agreements solemnly signed by previous presidents. Given the way the current administration has casually ignored those agreements, why would anyone expect America to honor any future deals?
Last but not least, I don’t think Trump and company have any idea how much their betrayal of Ukraine has weakened America.
I mean, here we have a nation fighting and dying to defend democracy against a brutal dictatorship that the U.S. has long considered an adversary. Yet Trump has rewarded Ukrainian courage by completely cutting off aid:
Source: Ukraine Support Tracker
Trump has also repeatedly belittled Volodymyr Zelenskyy while praising Vladimir Putin, and made it increasingly clear that he wants Putin to win. In a way, America’s reputation has been further diminished by the fact that Trump isn’t getting his wish, because Ukraine keeps refusing to be defeated. So Trump can’t even do betrayal right.
What’s especially depressing about that Politico poll is that it was taken a month ago. That is, it reflects international attitudes before the debacle in Iran.
As everyone other than the most slavish Trump acolytes realizes, the war is going badly. The U.S. has spent billions of dollars bombing a third-rate power, badly depleting our stockpiles of sophisticated munitions, yet the regime survives and remains able to blockade a fifth of the world’s oil supply.
The Trump administration’s incompetence at war planning has been revelatory, in the worst way. The U.S. military’s lack of preparedness has also been shocking. Everyone following the Russia/Ukraine conflict, with its drone-infested battlespace, has been wondering whether American forces are ready for this new kind of war. Now we know that they aren’t. In a hair-raising article, the military historian and expert Phillips O’Brien says that this is a sign of rot in the U.S. military. I wish I were sure that he is wrong.
Now, Ukraine has learned the hard way how to fight this kind of war — and it moved quickly to help the United States and its allies in the region make use of its drone-fighting technology, despite Trump’s betrayals. Meanwhile Russia is aiding Iran. But Trump is still demeaning and insulting Zelenskyy while praising Putin.
The general public may not be aware that Trump’s America offers no reward to nations that come to its aid and does nothing to punish nations that aid its adversaries. But I guarantee that every leader in the world — very much including the leaders of nations Trump is now begging for help in the Strait of Hormuz — has taken notice and will treat the United States accordingly.
In short, Trump’s actions have drastically reduced the world’s respect for the United States. Yet Trump and his officials keep asserting that they have, well, made America great again. Why?
I don’t think it’s mainly about persuading the public. It is, instead, a desperate attempt to persuade themselves. For Trump, life is all about dominance displays; his sense of self-worth depends on believing that he’s cowing the world into submission. Others in his administration have more specific motivations. Pete Hegseth has built his brand around the notion that “warrior ethos” and “lethality” are what make a nation strong. Admitting that being smart and having allies are more important than macho posturing would be an implicit concession that he’s been wrong about everything.
The truth is that America used to be respected, not simply because we were a superpower, but because we were a different kind of superpower — a nation that stood by its allies, that mostly obeyed the rules of the system we created, that possessed an army that was professional, smart and incorruptible. Now Trump has thrown all that away. And I don’t know how or when we can ever get it back.
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This is difficult for MAGAs. They could just say, "So who needs allies?? Fuck 'em!" But Their Glorious Leader, while crapping on America's traditional allies, is also begging them to send ships to clear Hormuz, which is apparently beyond the capabilities of America' military...
... and of course he is menacing those same allies if they do not come to his rescue.
Coherence is not our President's strong suit.
Morning..yes the general consensus here is.
We are keeping out of it..no warships will be coming from Australia or New Zealand last I heard..
If the government did, they will be signing their own death warrants at the next elections here...
Trump said the war was won and we are taking him at his word..we are sure Trump would never lie...😁
I've seen politicians shoot themselves in the foot. But Trump is the first politician I've witnessed that routinely gives himself a groin kick in the same news conference.
Trump's lackeys and minions hang off him like parasites just so they don't get blindsided by Trump's blunderspeak. It's like deja covfefe all over again.
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While it's always nice to be respected, that hasn't been the case with the USA since Viet Nam.
If you'll refer to this graph:
... you'll notice that none of those numbers started very high to begin with. We're talking about populations that are looking for reasons to think less of America.
If you've been to Europe and seen how many Americans behave when they travel, you'll understand this dynamic immediately.
However, we've learned to live with the disdain of European liberals and have thrived while ignoring them. Our per capita GDP is roughly 80% higher than France, 60% higher than the UK, and 55% higher than Germany.
If they were added as US states, Germany would rank 50th, the UK would rank 51st, Mississippi would be 52nd and France would be 53rd. That assumes we don't count Washington DC, in which case everybody would move one notch lower.
I've lived in France for fifty years.
I know, but it's a public forum and other people will also be reading comments.
But to that point, I'm very sure you've seen your share of American tourists who cannot manage even the simplest courtesies when they travel.
When I first arrived in France, people gave me a hard time because my French was far from perfect. Over the next few years, my French got a lot better, and people's attitude turned 180°. They realized that I spoke their language a lot better than they spoke mine - the French are almost as bad as the Germans at foreign languages. I'll always have an accent - the consequence of learning late, when neurological patterns are already locked in. But my vocabulary is better than most French.
Yes, I've met "ugly American" tourists... but not so many. Ugly Brits are more common, I think, and some nationals (Dutch!) are naturally loud. Americans used to show their ignorance, but the ones who travel have learned to keep their mouths shut, or to be politely curious.
And the French - Parisians especially - can be pretty obnoxious.
I doubt that many MAGAs go to Europe as tourists. They would be wise to wear a different baseball cap.
I was in France last June for my fourth time over about 36 years, and my third time in Paris. I have always found the French, including Parisians, to be generally friendly. This time they seemed to be friendlier than ever. I have limited facility in French, but always politely say a greeting in French when I first encounter anyone, in a restaurant, shop, museum or on the street. They seem to appreciate it, and then most of them almost immediately begin speaking to me in English.
Maybe I'm just sensitive to it, but it seems there are few people louder and more obnoxious than American college girls in a cafe while on a gap year in Europe, unless it's New Yorkers on vacation anywhere.
Europeans have always been incredibly welcoming on our travels.
Living in Texas, I have a lot a friends who are pretty enthusiastic MAGA supporters, and no, they don't generally like to travel abroad. It's even difficult to get some of them to Mexico.
Can confirm.
We've had exactly that experience.
Evening..same when I travelled through France..
If they can see you are making an effort to speak it they are quite friendly and helpful..
The worst thing you can do and say first off, Can you speak English? That is almost regarded as an insult as most French people can speak two or three languages especially the younger ones..
What got me is even just by saying "Bonjour" and before you could speak further they would switch to English..we also made it very clear we were Australian and not British and that was always in our favour..
I am afraid our accent automatically gets in the way so not matter how hard we tried to speak French it will never be pronounced or sound correct..
But they appreciated it and often told us so...
Evening Bob..not matter where you are or live, you run into your obnoxious fellow citizens when travelling..
They are a major embarrassment and cringeworthy material..
Some of the worst tourists here are the Chinese...rude, pushy and aggressive..plus they smoke everywhere even when they have been told they can't..The worst are off the ships in the harbour here..they invade Woolies and buy up baby food, vitamins and noodles..can always tell when a ship has been in..
They are closely followed by the Japanese..not sure if it's an over crowding thing in their own countries and that is the norm there or something but it's how they act here...
The ugly Aussie can usually be found in Bali normally drunk, causing fights, and riding scooters..often crashing and killing or injuring themselves.. and they wonder why they get deported..
Every time someone I know is going to France for the first time, I emphasize to them that they must say "Bonjour" first to anyone they encounter, or "Bon soir" if it is in the evening. On our recent trip I found myself sometimes also saying "Comment allez-vous?" ("How are you?) after "Bonjour" because it was fun to say something beyond just "Bonjour". They would always answer briefly in French and then switch to English.
The funniest thing that happened was on our trip several years ago when we were in Provence, not Paris. My wife does not speak French, but in two or three shops when she said "Merci" to the proprietor after they helped us, the shop owner responded, in English: "Oh, madame speaks French!" That made me laugh.
Yes a little effort does go along way.
The 13 countries we went through in Europe we each learnt to say hello, please, thank you and count up to 5 at least..
My Christian name is French so they more or less thought I could speak it. Even the border guards..said nope sorry I'm an Aussie up to the eye balls..
They said I could migrate to France...nah to tame for me and the beaches are crap..happy on my sand bar in the middle of the ocean..
I would love to go to France. I know how to say hello, thank-you, and please. I've got the equivalent of 6 years of French under my belt but I'm hopeless. I would mangle the language so badly the French would speak to me in English just so I would shut up
Every time we are in a foreign country we try to do that, but not necessarily count to 5. Usually, I learn how to say our hotel room number in their language because you usually have to ask for the key at the front desk when you return for the day after touring around. The people working at our hotel in Amsterdam were pretty impressed when I did that because no one learns Dutch. We had a big problem, though, when we tried to say anything in Australianese. Just impossible.
New Yorkers are dangerous when they are out of their home territory.
I'm sure you would love it there. It's an amazing place to visit.
But... but... but... they speak Spanish there! Of course no one wants to go there...
That's really good to hear.
I hear it's a very hard language to learn. You could always just say "VEGEMITE!" whenever you're stumped
I've had that experience, as well. Had to "correct" behavior after a Chinese tourist kept shoving my daughter and several other tourists at Yellowstone.
They do that for most of us. You would certainly not be alone. They do seem to appreciate the effort, though.
They just don't seem to know how to behave, regardless of location.
To be fair, the primary hesitation tends to be cartel related. We were there for Valentine's day, and a full on cartel war erupted a week after we left reasonably near where we had stayed.
Also to be fair, most of the staunch MAGA people I know work in some form of trade alongside large numbers of Mexicans whom they respect deeply and with whom they develop close friendships. The whole "racist" thing is driven primarily by liberal women looking to feel self-righteous who don't actually know any Mexicans socially. Maybe that's different up north.
I tried that a few times but they just responded in their language, which only they understand. No one there speaks more than a couple of words in English. A few times I heard someone try to say something in English, but it always sounded like they were saying "kangaroo dreams".
When we were in Beijing at the Forbidden City there were groups of Chinese tourists from other parts of China. There are some exhibits there you view through windows from outside. It was pretty crowded that day, and some of the old women from the Chinese tour groups elbowed their way to the front (sharp elbows!) while the old men stood in the back and smoked.
In New York on their home territory they act pretty normal.
Here in L.A. we have people from all over the world. For the most part we all get along, with exceptions, of course.
I guess "normal" in NY is whatever NYers do. When in Rome.....
In Texas, let's just say we have different customs.
I think people who move somewhere tend to adapt at least somewhat to the place they move, and most people get along great.
In Yuma, racial slurs are commonplace. Different places?
I haven't heard one from an adult in Dallas in so long I can't remember. When I coached, my black players would use them until they spent enough time in our program to break the habit. But I quit coaching in 2020. It's been at least that long since I've heard one, and much longer since I heard an adult use one.
Evening...yes I guess we do confuse many tourists but basically if you abbreviate everything you cant go to far wrong..
We just don't see the point in yaking your gums off when you can say less..
Who says moziquito for example when mozzie will do..
I was chucking a uey down the track a roo jumped out I swerved and the car left the road and it got stuck in the mud..
Translated means..
I was driving like the clappers and dodged a roo left the road and got bogged..
See it's clear, precise and says it all with less.. perfect..🦘
In Yuma, the slurs are for brown, not black.
As I was saying...
lol
We don't do those either.
The Mexican guys do. They think it's hilarious. They also think we're soft idiots for all the worrying we do about race and offense.