When asked by The New York Times in January what could limit his actions and statements as president, Donald Trump replied, “There is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the one thing that can stop me.”
Apparently, the president believes he knows his own mind and that he has a moral code. That belief, however, is not unique. Adolf Hitler believed the same. So did Stalin. So have many authoritarians throughout history.
There are always lines powerful people say they will never cross, boundaries they claim cannot be overcome. So far, President Trump has not faced a defining test of those limits. What he has faced instead are consequences, both intended and unintended, of decisions made domestically and internationally.
Attempting to raise capital from those he views as past “users” of the United States has produced mixed results. Yes, over a trillion dollars has reportedly been raised toward addressing U.S. debt, but a direct sense of chaos now exists across global markets, stock exchanges, and retail sectors.
Confusion over ever-changing rules of financial and commercial engagement spreads like an unquenchable forest fire. Many allies have become economic and diplomatic adversaries under what some now call “Trumpian decrees.” Stack diplomacy onto this pile, and the fire of instability rises higher. Smoke may obscure some realities, but one thing is visible: the United States is now deeply divided.
Messaging creates further consequences. Americans hear, “Buy American. Look within for what you need and desire,” and “buy local and regional to save money and build America.”
These messages sound empowering and, in some ways, they are. What happens when former trading partners do the same? Your market shrinks. Your manufacturers lose reach. Entire supply chains weaken.
Had this policy been applied regionally, say, across the Americas, it might have made sense to strengthen trade with: Canada, Mexico, and Central and South America. Instead, the administration has gone out of its way to antagonize leaders in Venezuela, Cuba, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, and even its most reliable partner, Canada.
This is a fool’s errand; one step forward, three steps back. If the president wants to be seen as a leader who cares about ordinary people, his messaging is deeply contrarian to their economic reality.
Diplomatically, the administration claims to support Ukraine while also portraying itself as friendly with Russia. It voices respect for Iranian protestors but offers no tangible support.
With diplomacy conducted behind closed doors, the public cannot know how America will act, why it acts, or whose interests truly shape those decisions. Increasingly, it appears that America’s agenda is not being set transparently by Congress, but privately, among wealthy elites whose meetings are invisible to voters.
“Through a clever and constant application of propaganda, people can be made to see paradise as hell, and hell as paradise.” That line wasn’t written by a modern strategist. It was written by Adolf Hitler. Since World War II, political parties and think tanks across the world have studied the Nazi Party’s psychological methods. Elements of those strategies have surfaced in modern elections, including in the United States.
The question isn’t whether propaganda exists. It always has. The real question is this: what else has been learned from the past, and how far are today’s leaders willing to go?
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