The last few months have been turbulent for national and international politics. Despite the intense efforts of government propaganda and private channels aligned with the Trump administration, such as Fox News, there have been several undeniable failures.
Let’s take a look at President Donald Trump’s administration over the past summer, starting with his peace negotiations in several conflicts around the world. U.S. intervention was initially described as valuable in resolving the conflict in the Middle East, until parties involved decided to somehow ignore Trump.
The negotiations between Israel and Hamas have, for the moment, culminated in a continuation of war and an open enmity between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump, due to the former’s refusal to obey the latter’s orders. As with businessman Elon Musk, former senior advisor to Trump, the president’s ego does not allow him to see that the leaders around him also have their own ideas.
In turn, the need to be praised leaves other world leaders with an exposed weakness when it comes to negotiating. Iran first demonstrated this by gaining time in negotiating the cessation of its nuclear operations within the U.S. When the negotiations finally concluded, Iran was potentially close to completing its nuclear weapon.
And this failure is not the only one, as Trump’s attempts to control Israel have put the relationship between the two countries in an ambiguous state, much more tense than before. Tel Aviv, Israel’s, refusal to stop military operations has made visible the problem of having a person in office who does not accept no for an answer.
On the other hand, Russia has found ways to stall Trump’s threats. On July 14, Trump announced a 50-day deadline for the Russian Federation to withdraw its troops from the front line or face secondary economic sanctions that would leave Russia isolated from international trade. The deadline has passed, but we are still waiting for the president to keep his word, while Russia only breaks records every week with its air strikes.
This is supplemented by past statements. First, the war would end in 24 hours, then in a few weeks, then the ultimatum, which he couldn’t meet. For many Ukrainians, there is no after, as Trump’s international credibility is torpedoed with every attempt to intimidate Moscow. In exchange for breaking the deadline set, Trump invited Putin to a conference in Anchorage, Alaska.
From these failures, the international community has begun to popularize a term: TACO trade, an acronym for Trump Always Chickens Out, which also is the word for the popular Mexican food. The president’s habit of talking more than he should is becoming very expensive on the international scene.
Despite the approaching U.S. Navy fleet approaching Venezuela, the country is not in danger of falling soon, unless, instead of an amphibious incursion, Trump decides to raze half of Caracas, Venezuela, in order to bring down the regime and capture or assassinate Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, Minister of the Popular Power for Interior, Justice and Peace Diosdado Cabello, and Minister of People’s Power for Defense Vladimir Padrino.
Trump’s failures at the international level are not limited to his futile attempts to win the Nobel Peace Prize at any cost, as other countries join in moving away from the U.S. sphere of influence and closer to China and the BRICS, the international economic organization composed of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa originally. Thus, the opposite of what was desired with the famous taxes is achieved, now that China expands its markets and the U.S. begins to lose theirs.
In domestic affairs, ICE arrests, bullies against members of the government, attacks without evidence or support and the narcissistic need to spend millions on totally unnecessary things — the famous White House State Ballroom and the new iron dome, so called “Golden Dome” — are symptoms of a growing problem.
We could go on for pages and pages listing the administration’s nonsense and failures, and over the course of the semester more pages will likely be added detailing several of its flawed policies. But the reason why these things happen comes down to a question that the president should ask himself.
How much is he willing to sacrifice to satisfy his arrogance and pride?
