*** “Wooden-headedness consists of assessing a situation in terms of preconceived, fixed notions while ignoring or rejecting any contrary signs. It is acting to wish while not allowing oneself to be confused by the facts.”
[ Double Pulitzer Prize winner; Historian; Barbara Tuchman ]
Donald John Trump has done much damage to America, and the world. Domestically, America MIGHT. be able to repair its democracy. BUT – Trump’s incredible STUPIDITY. of saying that climate change is a “hoax” [ in the face of unprecedented damage]; his arrogant treatment of [former] friendly nations; his coziness with other dictators; his STUPIDITY in saying, thinking, acting as if the United states can successfully enact an “America First” foreign policy may prove to be fatal to the American experiment in democracy.
***. “Acting on our own, by ourselves, we cannot establish justice throughout the world, we cannot ensure its domestic tranquility, or provide for its common defense, or promote the general welfare, or secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. But joined with other free nations, we can do all this and more.”
[ John F. Kennedy; 35th U.S. President; 7/4/1962 ]
This post presents excerpts from “Trump Is Making America Dispensable” [ Jon finer; New York Times; 7/12/26]. The results of Trump insulting and demeaning other nations; of his ignorant ideological framework; of his tariffs, bullying nations, and now his RECKLESS war on Iran. – will NOT be good for America in any sense. His 8 years as president might well be seen as the beginning of the collapse of America as a world power. America, “thanks” to Trump, is no longer seen with the same affection and respect the world had for us before 2016. Finer reports on what has ALREADY happened, is happening, will happen. YOU are watching the DISASTER unfold……………………..
1] “Three years later, de-risking from predatory superpowers remains the fundamental challenge facing European leaders, but China is no longer the main country of concern: The United States is.”
2] “It is not just Europe backing away from the United States. Leaders of America’s partners in Asia and the Middle East are quietly doing the same. The second Trump administration’s ostentatious corruption, trade conflicts, military adventurism and mercurial artificial intelligence regulation have produced a new moment in international affairs: a nearly global grand strategy of countries distancing themselves from the world’s most powerful nation.”
3]. “For the United States, which has called itself the “indispensable nation” for decades, this represents a sea change. Countries have long sought the protection of America’s mighty military and access to its markets and technology. That in turn has benefited our economy and national security.”
*** “There is no peace, says the Lord, for the wicked.” [ Isaiah. 48: 22 ]
4] “..in a world where big countries increasingly weaponize the dependence of small countries, and self-sufficiency is its own form of power, the global de-risking is already hurting Americans at home….The lost war against Iran…contributed to a $132 billion hit to American consumers, according to Moody’s.”
5] “Mr. Trump’s immigration policies are also driving countries away. Four million fewer visitors came to the United States in 2025 than in 2024, an estimated cost of more than $8 billion. America is hemorrhaging future skilled labor as enrollment by international university students dropped 17 percent last fall from the prior year, already costing universities at least an estimated $1 billion, and potentially costing the country hundreds of billions in future revenue.”
6] “The chilling effect is spreading. As Mr. Trump muses about making it a 51st state, Canada has embarked on a “new strategic partnership” with China, opened its market for the first time to 50,000 Chinese electric vehicles and joined a more than $150 billion European defense fund aimed at breaking the dependency on the American defense industry.”
*** “The American people are a very generous people and will forgive almost any weakness, with the possible exception of stupidity.” [ Will Rogers ]
7] “In East Asia, where Mr. Trump has paused the sale of arms to Taiwan in deference to President Xi Jinping of China, Taipei and allied capitals are recalibrating their relationships. Japan is overhauling its concept of national defense to develop greater offensive strike capabilities. South Korean contractors are displacing American arms sellers around the world.”
8]. “India is deepening commercial ties with Europe, the Middle East and even, grudgingly, China. India is one of a growing number of countries sufficiently worried about reliable access to American frontier A.I. models that it is considering Chinese or domestic alternatives.”
9]. “But nowhere is the push to de-risk from the United States more costly to both sides. – and disadvantageously timed. – than on the continent that coined the phrase. Once unthinkable conversations are underway in European capitals. European officials tell me they are quietly developing plans for responding in the event of a full-blown trade war with America…”
*** “Before we engage ourselves, we must know what we are doing, and once we have engaged ourselves, we must prevail, or the impact will be catastrophic.” [ Henry Kissinger; former U.S. Secretary of State ]
10]. “..the divisions Mr. Trump is causing are different. In 2021, for example, Australia agreed to invest billions of dollars in the U.S. submarine industry, on the promise that new boats would appear near Perth somewhere in the mid-2030s. Fewer countries are willing to make such long-term bets on America anymore…”
11]. “Some costs of the world’s de-risking from America are already hitting home. Others won’t be evident overnight. Allies were right not to join Mr. Trump’s unnecessary Iran fiasco, but our ability to deter future conflicts is weakened by our greater isolation. Lacking a clear alternative partner, most countries will hedge gradually, rather than immediately “decoupling” from the United States.”
*** “…thanks to Donald’s penchant for division, and devastating uncertainty about our country’s future have created a perfect storm of catastrophes that no one is less equipped than my uncle to manage. Doing so would require courage, strength of character, deference to experts, and the confidence to take responsibility and to course correct after admitting mistakes. His ability to control unfavorable situations by lying, spinning, and obfuscating has diminished to the point of impotence in the midst of the tragedies we are currently facing.”
[ Mary L. Trump: “Too Much And never Enough. How My Family Created the World’s most Dangerous Man” ]
*** “Trump’s rash behavior makes his presence in the Oval Office a clear and present danger to the safety and security of not just the American people but the rest of the world, too.”
[ double Pulitzer Prize winner David Cay Johnston: “The Making of Donald Trump” ]
With Justice For All 