As Trade War is Put on Hold (For Now), World Leaders Told CNN Reporter Fareed Zakaria Their Opinions of President Trump

For the moment, the tariffs which President Donald Trump went ahead and imposed on Mexico and Canada have been paused after both countries imposed their own tariffs on the United States.

One might almost get the impression that Trump was not prepared for those two countries to simply sit there and take it, but to answer hostile economic measures in kind. His supporters feel that the man is a genius, and knows what he is doing, and that these tariffs - which virtually started a trade war launched by the United States against three other nations - would work out for the best in the end. However, it often feels for the rest of us like he has a hot head, dangerously mixed with a desire for shock value and a lack of real understanding of the consequences of official government actions, and gets himself (and the country he represents) into trouble, time and time again. Whether it's pulling out of the Paris Accord (twice now) or the World Health Organization or suspending the White House pandemic team early during his first term or promising to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours before backing off that promise, or promising to lower grocery prices and again backing off, or now, backing off from tariffs which he had long promised he would impose once Canada and Mexico actually responded with costly tariffs of their own, it sure feels like this man makes a lot of noise and all of that, but then has to back down once he apparently realizes that he might not have the upper hand in such things that he always seems to feel that he holds.

Another unfortunate tendency that Trump has - and which his loyal supporters too quickly and willingly believe without question - is that the United States has been taken advantage of more often than not. If you listen to Trump, the United States has been treated very badly and continually gets the raw end of the deal from countries around the world. 

Of course, you do not reach the level of world's superpower - or stay there for as long as the United States has kept that distinction - by repeatedly, consistently being taken advantage of. In fact, this is one perspective which Trump has that other world leaders simply do not understand. And my strong suspicion is that they are right to have that suspicion.

Below is a video from CNN reporter Fareed Zakaria, where he explains this strange disconnect between Trump and world leaders. The reality seems to be something other than what Trump is claiming it to be. We Americans really should understand how the rest of the world sees this as a false sense of entitlement and victimization, when in fact there really is nothing there. 

World leaders tell Fareed Zakaria what they think of President Trump