Donald Trump's bruising return to the White House has sent many longtime foreign allies scrambling to get their distance, and according to a new piece from The Atlantic, that distance will last long after Trump is gone.

Trump's second term as president has been marked by notable and widespread disrespect toward nations once seen as close U.S. allies. Between his attempts to level massive tariffs against nearly every nation in the world and his frequent breaches of diplomatic norms, Trump has created a hostile global environment in which allies no longer feel safe trusting in the stability of the U.S.

In a new piece for The Atlantic on Tuesday, staff writer Vivian Salama argued that this new dynamic, in which the nations of the world are working to establish a safe distance from the U.S., is bound to become the new normal for years to come, even after Trump leaves office and is potentially replaced by a more traditional, dependable administration.

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[–] 48 points 5 days ago (60 children)

No Trump. Americans.

The first term was forgivable as long as they learned from it. Instead they celebrated it and cried out for more.

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  • [–] 26 points 5 days ago

    It's happening in Germany. It's happening in France. It's happening in Australia and Canada and Italy and Japan and pretty much everywhere. Somehow, in spite of a proven record of failure and catastrophic consequences, right wing ideology continues to grow like a cancer across the globe.

    The US got to this point with help from foreign billionaires, as well as domestic ones. Elon Musk, Rupert Murdoch, Sundar Pichai... The grift is global and putting your vitriol toward those who might take your side will leave you friendless when it happens to you where you live.

    People gave up instead of showing up and that was a costly mistake.

    Many people mean well, even if they live in bad places. Have the grace to encourage them to keep resisting, even if that resistance is as small as protest or even voting, for your own sake.

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  • [–] 13 points 5 days ago* (2 children)

    Try to take hybrid warfare into account. Not for nothing was Putin paying buildings full of trolls to poison internet culture for years and years. They couldn't automate it with an LLM back then.

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  • [–] 10 points 5 days ago (31 children)

    Need to caveat this that not all Americans. The country is incredibly polarized and pissed off at itself from within. It's a hot cesspool mess inside and there are many who sympathize with the rest of the world and abhor the cancer within.

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  • [–] 36 points 5 days ago (3 children)

    It's totally irrelevant if it's all USians or just a few of them. The US is a inherently unstable country, winner takes it all. When people elect a less idiotic president, it will just take a few years until the next Trump-Level guy wins again.

    Also the republican presidents I experienced in my life got more unhinged every cycle, Regan, old Bush, young Bush, Trump. Who will be next one? One day there will be another Republican president.

    The only way out would be a fundamental refactoring to not be a failing democracy.

    Pigs will fly through a freezing hell before that happens. So the only rational thing is to understand the empire fell, the King has no clothes and keep a wide berth around the US in all future dealings.

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  • [–] 15 points 5 days ago

    Who will be next one? One day there will be another Republican president.

    Yes. Just look at two prominent, potential Republican presidential candidates for the next few decades: dark lord and antichrist lecturer Peter Thiel's boy JD Vance and unhinged, rabid anti-communist Marco Rubio. There are probably others of a similar caliber, but I try to forget.

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  • [–] 5 points 5 days ago

    Yeah, the system is rotten and appears to be reaching its experimental conclusion. Technofeudal Christofascism wants so badly to hammer the final nail in the coffin of so-called American democracy (which was always a facade for corposlavery...or just straight up slavery).

    If the country ever actually gave a shit about true democracy, ranked preference voting and much more representative chambers would have existed. But it's only ever been about wealth and classism, it's just now the facade has been completely torn off to expose the rot for everyone to smell.

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  • [–] 0 points 5 days ago*

    Except it becomes relevant when the few are being told they are the reason why their country is the way it is.

    It's a brush that paints both aggressors and actual victims in the same light and while I can accept people calling the US a failing nation but I feel a deep resentment towards people who just say "Americans are the problem."

    Same people are also the first to tell me I need to do something that's liable to get me killed or worse.

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  • [–] 23 points 5 days ago (2 children)

    And how does "not all Americans" limit the damage to the rest of us?

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  • [–] 1 point 5 days ago (1 child)

    Might provide a little hope that Americans from within are actually more on your side than his.

    Look, I'm sorry for all this stupid horrible shit happening because of the absolutely asinine decisions being made by fascist hopefuls elected by arrogant and ignorant sociopaths. My hate for today's reality runs as deep as yours, but it gets to be accompanied by its best friend, shame, as well.

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  • [–] 15 points 5 days ago (3 children)

    Everyone ignoring that he still has a 40% approval rating. That's 137m people who like what's going on.

    Let's just lock the door and wait for the dumpster fire to burn itself out.

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  • [–] 10 points 5 days ago* (1 child)

    I can’t stand this argument. It’s the exact same logic as blurting out “not all men” when women rightfully express how they should be cautious when interacting with them in certain contexts.

    Sure, not all Americans. That just doesn’t matter in the slightest when there’s a large enough chunk of them to get the world in the mess it is now. If they get their shit together maybe people will stop generalizing as a means of precaution for the sake of sparing headaches. The problem is with them as a whole, not the people understandably steering clear.

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  • [–] -3 points 4 days ago*

    Not at all comparible in the least because in this context "men" in this context are also victimizing other men. This is the equivalent of other men ALSO having to be cautious when interacting with other men.

    In making this comparison you are just generalizing all Americans and basically saying they get what's coming to them regardless of whether they put the clown in power or they are in fact victims of said clown. All the generalizing does is socially lock them in with the room with their abuser.

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  • [–] 1 point 5 days ago* (13 children)

    As your historical enemy how many presidents do I have to go back before it becomes all Americans?

    The good ones fled after the revolutionary war.

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  • [–] 1 point 5 days ago (2 children)

    Oh, yeah? Who voted for Brexit? Who voted for LePen? Who voted AFD? Who voted for Meloni? Don't be so quick to blame Americans when your own countrymen are doing the same shit.

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  • [–] 1 point 5 days ago (1 child)

    Brits didn't vote for Brexit twice, Le Pen has never been president of France despite three attempts and AFD has never had any real power in Germany. I'll give you Italy's Meloni, but the rest are just weak whataboutisms.

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  • [–] 1 point 5 days ago*

    Brits didn't vote for Brexit twice

    Why would they? It passed.

    AFD has never had any real power in Germany.

    Won Saxony, didn't they?

    Le Pen has never been president of France despite three attempts

    Only got 8% less of the vote than Trump.

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