Earlier this week, Donald Trump announced that he would be moving the American embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. And like with so many other things that this man has said and done since becoming President, reaction was swift and mostly negative. There were calls for violent protests, and indeed, protests were seen in much of the Middle East. For many Arabs, this latest move was just confirmation of what they largely suspected, that Americans might claim to be somewhat neutral in the debate between Israel and Palestine and a potential two state solution, but the reality is that the United States always seems to side with Israel, and that despite some window dressing to appear neutral, the United States will forever side with and favor Israel.
Now, there were some who were jubilant about this announcement. Many Israelis were, obviously. They made the move to make Jerusalem the national capital many years ago. However, no nation had their embassy there (although some used to), because it was recognized by the world community as disputed territory. For all intents and purposes, Jerusalem is a divided city. There is West Jerusalem, which belongs to the Israelis. And there is East Jerusalem, which has been recognized as belonging to the Palestinians. But Trump's announcement is being regarded as legitimizing Israeli claims to all of Jerusalem, so indeed, many Israelis are happy. Netanyahu looked downright jubilant.
But again, most of the world was clear in condemning Trump's actions. Like so many of his decisions and opinions, it is being regarded as reckless and not well thought out at all. While Trump himself has remained defiant, and suggests that this is just an acknowledgement of reality, most of the world clearly seems to reject his thinking, and reinforcing America's increased isolation since Trump took over. Indeed, the United States sees itself as more and more isolated with seemingly every action and every policy coming out of the Trump White House. Americans had better get used to it.
Case in point would be the reaction out of Germany. Now Germany, along with the rest of western Europe, are traditional allies with the United States. That is understandable, as these nations, by and large, share some similarities politically, economically, culturally, and historically. Western Europe and the United States became especially close particularly in the postwar years, when they joined together to form NATO to keep the Soviet threat in check. Also, there were clear signs of mutual cooperation and respect both economically and politically.
That period appears to be ending. If there were signs of that - and to be sure, there were always differences of opinions that resulted in friction - those signs have never been as blatant and transparent as they appear to be now. The close cooperation between the United States and western Europe was seriously threatened during the administration of George W. Bush in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq, and it clearly existed when it was discovered, under President Obama, that the United States had wiretapped the offices of Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany.
Yet, even those earlier signs of rising tensions and suspicions pale in comparison to what has been going on ever since Donald Trump won last year's presidential elections in the United States. That election result shocked and alarmed - some might even suggest horrified - many around the world. Coming as it did just months after Britain had similarly disappointing and horrified the world, and especially Europe, by voting to leave the European Union (Brexit), there was growing feeling in Europe that they were dealing with two English speaking countries, and close allies, who were choosing to go in a very different direction than the rest of the world, and perhaps especially away from Europe.
Still, once Trump's official election win became clear, despite some obvious and serious trepidation, there was a general response of let's just wait and see what we end up having, from the masses of people opposed to Trump both inside and outside of the United States.
Well, we have waited, and we now have seen what the Trump presidency will be like. As most skeptics predicted, it has offered nothing of real substance, much like the main man behind it. It is a reflection of Trump himself: loud and boisterous and overly sure of itself, despite no real cause for all of this bravado for any thinking, halfway objective person. His America first policy betrays and overly, overly paranoid way of thinking, and very public dismissal of science and good taste more generally has sickened the world. His recklessness and crass approach has rubbed many people the wrong way, and this is especially true in Europe - perhaps especially in Germany.
Some German citizens - not the government - were warning about the dangers of having a populist politician with a big mouth and with a certain bravado like Trump in charge, and in a thinly disguised comparison with a certain former leader of Germany, they warned that Germany as a nation had tried it, too, and look how well that turned out.
Indeed, a vast majority of Germans disapprove of Donald Trump, and that is no secret or surprise. What might be a surprise, at least to Americans, is that they view the United States under Trump as a more serious threat than either Russia or North Korea, in a poll and news story that actually reminded me a bit of a similar poll in Canada about a decade and a half that revealed that a wide majority of Canadians viewed the United States as a more serious threat to world peace than Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
Indeed, after European leaders first met with now President Trump earlier this year, several European heads of state warned that they no longer felt that they could rely upon Britain and the United States - again, two former longtime allies - as reliable partners anymore. The most notable world leader to do this was, of course, Angela Merkel of Germany, just hours after first meeting Trump in person. It should also be noted that just days earlier, Trump's trademark style of empty bravado, so beloved by tens of millions of Americans apparently, even sickened the Pope, who looked visibly unhappy and distressed after meeting with President Trump.
Those differences only grew over time, especially after President Trump announced that he would be withdrawing the United States from the Paris Climate Accord, insinuating that it had been a "bad deal" for the United States, and that the entire world was laughing at his nation. In fact, it seemed that the whole world was more disgusted by Trump's crass but typical dismissal of science than they ever were laughing at the United States for joining the world community on the international accord.
And now, with this latest announcement, Merkel went even further, not merely suggesting that the United States was no longer a reliable ally, but that the United States, at least while Trump is in charge, is in fact not an ally at all.
Can you blame her?
Indeed, this is exactly what millions of American opponents of Trump were worried about, that this man's shallowness, which tens of millions of Americans apparently cannot see through, is all too transparent for the rest of the world. Nobody outside of American borders seems fooled in the least. And traditional allies are leaving us in droves. Allies like Germany, and much of the rest of western Europe. And Mexico, of course, because whatever some paranoid Americans believe, the United States and Mexico were close allies and partners in trade, but this has been greatly compromised. And indeed, some other nations are starting to think twice, such as Saudi Arabia, a nation that has been extremely reluctant to criticize this country before, but which blasted Trump's decision to move the embassy to Jerusalem.
As many people warned and predicted, the United States under Trump is making very bad decisions, decisions that might haunt it for years to come. In less than one full year (although it feels like Trump has been in there longer than that), the United States has indeed lost close allies and grown ever more isolated, while China's power and influence grows. The Trump presidency has benefited them, as they have used every opportunity to step in and assume leaders roles around the world that Trump's isolationism and provincial way of thinking is leaving open.
The world is trying to warn Americans, and indeed, the increased isolation should be alarming enough to anyone paying attention. The rest of the world is screaming, trying to warn Americans that they are heading for a crash, and tens of millions of arrogant and ignorant Americans are convinced that they are doing so only out of jealousy or hollow anger.
In fact, they are trying to warn us of the clear dangers that seem all too clear to them when an idiot like Trump takes charge. And nowhere are they screaming out warnings faster or more fiercely than in Germany.
Again, can you blame them?
Germans see Trump as bigger problem than North Korea or Russia Reuters Staff, December 5, 2017:
Germany Denounces the United States Under Trump's Leadership, Releases Historic Statement
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