President Donald Trump keeps expecting powerful sovereign nations to bend to his will, and they continue to disappoint.
With a presidential term under his belt already, and a lifetime of cutting business deals, he should have seen that coming.
While the U.S. is the biggest kid on the international playground, it is not powerful enough to override the national interests of other major players. U.S. views are a factor in their decisions, but not the only factor — and usually not the most important factor.
That’s especially true at a time when the people of many nations, including neighbors Canada and Mexico, see the U.S. as both their top ally and the top threat, according to new survey data from the Pew Research Center.
If Trump is learning the limits of American dominance, he’s doing so the hard way. The most obvious examples are on twin pillars of foreign policy: war and trade.
Trump famously vowed during his campaign that he would resolve the Russia-Ukraine war within 24 hours of taking office. It’s been nearly six months, and there is no sign of progress toward peace. That has Trump on the warpath.
He vented about Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, accusing the Russian president of selling “bulls---” to American negotiators. “I’m not happy with Putin,” Trump said. Russia launched massive strikes on Ukraine on Thursday anyway.
A few months ago, Trump said his administration would sign 90 trade deals in 90 days. That hasn’t happened.
He’s got frameworks for agreements with China and the U.K., but those modest advances have not stopped him from issuing more threats to impose tariffs on foreign goods. Though he has kicked the can down the road a few times, he insists that won’t happen again when his latest deadline arrives in August.
The risk that tariffs will backfire by jacking up prices on U.S. consumers is high, and foreign countries are free to trade with one another at the expense of Americans’ access to goods.
The world will have to wait and see whether Trump actually takes that plunge.
But what is already clear is that, except in isolated circumstances, he can’t just wave his hand and expect other nations to dance for him.
