Donald Trump's Respect Deficit

One constant in the Trump political playbook is to describe the nation under Democrats in almost apocalyptic terms and then pivot to claim that he has or will deliver an amazing return to greatness. In his sole 2024 debate with President Biden, he claimed "we're no longer respected as a country. . . . . They don't respect the United States any more. We're like a Third World nation."

In his second inaugural address, Trump promised that from "this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world." Ten months later, he brags to the troops on the USS George Washington that "we're the most respected country in the world."

Last week, after a disastrous G-7 Summit that saw Trump sign an agreement of surrender with Iran at Versailles and receive a smack down from the Italian Prime Minister Meloni over his "constant, unprovoked attacks", the White House posted a photograph of Trump at the Summit with the caption, "America is RESPECTED again on the world stage." Guess again.

This week, the Pew Research Center released its latest survey of global opinion of the United States that found that the opposite is true, with over 70 percent of citizens in key allied nations had no confidence in President Trump doing the right thing regarding world affairs. For example, the survey reported the following percentages: UK (74%), Japan (74%), S. Korea (77%), Canada (79%), Germany (84%), France (84%), and Mexico (88%).

Trump's standing among our allies was on full display in the World Cup, as fans from Australia, England, and Scotland had chants slamming Trump. The White House is reportedly in crisis mode and Trump may skip attending matches to avoid hearing chants such as "Aussie boys are on a bender, Donald Trump is a sex offender," and "He's fat with piles, he's in the Epstein files."

Trump's near bankruptcy in global respect has significant consequences. First, to a certain extent, it is a measure of American soft power. In the post-World War II era, the United States consulted with its allies and developed a legal justification before engaging in military campaigns. Trump ignored this in launching his war with Iran, so that when he called on the allies to bail him out, Trump's goodwill account was overdrawn.

While President George W. Bush and Trump I also triggered declining approvals amongst our allies, this time seems different as our allies have had enough of Trump's bullying and shenanigans. Trump's erratic trade wars also have caused our allies to forge new partnerships with other countries including China, thereby reducing U.S. leverage. In a true FAFO development, Canada now is working to boost its energy production and will use a new pipeline to increase exports to Asia. This could result in a major reduction of petroleum exports to the U.S. which could be a shock to the U.S. energy sector.

Trump's bullying of Canada has backfired dramatically in exports and tourism. Canadian consumers shifted away from U.S. goods to the tune of $60 billion. Last year, the U.S. saw a reduction in tourism, the only country to record a loss among the over 100 countries surveyed. Leading the way was Canada, sending 9.9 million fewer visitors. The drop in tourism led to a reduction in visitor spending of $8.4 billion. As a result, in 2025 the U.S. posted a $14 billion trade deficit in tourism, the first deficit in that sector since data collection began in 1999. Of course, the cost of Trump's buffoonery is not just revenue but thousands of jobs across the country.

While Trump may delude himself and his declining base to believe that he is respected abroad, the simple fact is that increasingly, both at home and abroad, people have had enough of the incompetent and corrupt idiocracry led by the man that Jeffrey Epstein says is "the worst person he'd ever known."