Once upon a time you dressed so fine
Anne Applebaum at The Atlantic sketches a thumbail profile of the sitting U.S. president. Somewhere this exists as a psychological assessment in criminal investigation file:
Donald Trump does not think strategically. Nor does he think historically, geographically, or even rationally. He does not connect actions he takes on one day to events that occur weeks later. He does not think about how his behavior in one place will change the behavior of other people in other places.
He does not consider the wider implications of his decisions. He does not take responsibility when these decisions go wrong. Instead, he acts on whim and impulse, and when he changes his mind—when he feels new whims and new impulses—he simply lies about whatever he said or did before.
On the fallout just from Trump’s Greenland threats last year:
In Copenhagen a few weeks ago, I was shown a Danish app that tells users which products are American, so that they know not to buy them. At the time it was the most popular app in the country.
Donald Trump has no friends. Donald Trump doesn’t know how to be a friend, and never learned. Friends don’t threaten and insult their friends. Friends don’t demand tribute. Trump does:
He raised tariffs on Switzerland because he didn’t like the Swiss president, then lowered them after a Swiss business delegation brought him presents, including a gold bar and a Rolex watch.
Now Trump needs a bailout in Iran, one that can’t be bought with tax cuts, gold bars or Rolex watches. No one is coming to help. Go figure.
Applebaum concludes:
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has declared that Canada will not participate in the “offensive operations of Israel and the U.S., and it never will.” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius says, “This is not our war, and we didn’t start it.” The Spanish prime minister refused to let the United States use bases for the beginning of the war. The U.K. and France might send some ships to protect their own bases or allies in the Gulf, but neither will send their soldiers or sailors into offensive operations started without their assent.
This isn’t cowardice. It’s a calculation: If allied leaders thought that their sacrifice might count for something in Washington, they might choose differently. But most of them have stopped trying to find the hidden logic behind Trump’s actions, and they understand that any contribution they make will count for nothing. A few days or weeks later, Trump will not even remember that it happened.
You bragged that you didn’t need anyone. You got your wish, Donny.