Donald Trump Was Obvious — America’s Failure Was Not

For many outside the United States, Donald Trump was never a mystery. He was not a political riddle, nor an accident of history. He was obvious. What remains difficult to comprehend is how Americans—armed with vast media, institutions, and self-proclaimed democratic wisdom—failed so spectacularly to read a man who telegraphed his intentions from day one.

Trump did not corrupt American politics; he exposed it. His vulgar language, narcissism, and open contempt for norms were treated as shocking deviations, when in reality they stripped away the hypocrisy that had long defined the American political class. Previous presidents were better spoken, better groomed, and far more dangerous. Trump merely said aloud what others executed quietly.

America loves to boast of its wealth, power, and moral leadership. Yet it ranks poorly on almost every measure of social well-being among developed nations. Its middle class is shrinking, its prisons are full, its cities decay behind corporate skyscrapers, and its wars have left entire regions in ruins. Trump did not create this decay; he became its loudest symptom.

From South Asia and the Middle East, Trump’s worldview was instantly recognizable. We have seen strongmen before—men who confuse volume with authority and cruelty with strength. His Islamophobic travel bans, diplomatic bullying, and transactional foreign policy were predictable, not surprising. What was astonishing was America’s theatrical outrage, as if this behavior had no roots in its own imperial history.

The American establishment preferred to obsess over Trump’s manners rather than confront its own crimes. It was easier to mock his vocabulary than to admit that earlier administrations destroyed Libya, destabilized the Middle East, enriched corporations, and abandoned their own citizens—all while maintaining respectable language.

I could read Donald Trump because I was never seduced by the American myth. Many Americans were. Trump shattered that illusion, and instead of facing the mirror, they blamed the reflection.

That Donald Trump became president is troubling. That America still refuses to accept what he revealed about itself is far worse.

Trump has turned US into a rogue and pariah state

The United States under the leadership of Donald Trump is almost at odds with all countries except Israel. The Trump administration is also defying established international institutions, such as UNESCO and the International Criminal Court.

Trump’s repeated and reckless remarks that Canada should be the 51st state of the United States and that his country may take over Greenland by force if necessary, his proposal to own the Gaza Strip, his reversal of any decision or step to rein in on the climate change, and his illusion that all countries are taking advantage of the US have made Trump to look outlandish.

His tactless withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), has now turned into a global security headache as his administration and Israel launched military strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June.

The strikes, which are an act of aggression and illegal under international law, could have led to environmental catastrophes, even though some experts still don’t rule out the possibility of nuclear disasters.

Speaking at a forum at the Institute for Political and International Studies in Tehran about 18 years ago, Germany’s Joseph Joschka said the world would descend into chaos without the United States. However, the United States itself is now pushing the world toward anarchy and lawlessness.

In his term as president, he started defying international rules and regulations. He recognized Jerusalem (al-Quds) as Israel’s capital, moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to the city, and recognized the Syrian Golan Heights as Israel’s territory, pulled out of the JCPOA, the Paris climate agreement, and the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

His recognition of occupied Jerusalem as Israel’s capital took place while the international community was and is still working, of course with a lesser hope, on establishing a Palestinian State with East Jerusalem as its capital.

In his first term, it was thought that Trump was inexperienced and was living in his dreams because he had not served in top managerial posts such as a mayor, governor, or served in Senate before being catapulted to the powerful post of president. Yet, he began his second presidency after a four-year hiatus with more thoughtless remarks and actions.

On the first day of his presidency in the second term, Trump signed an executive order to again withdraw the US from the Paris climate agreement that the country had joined in during the Joe Biden presidency. In his announcement, Trump stated that “as of today, the United States will cease all implementation of the Paris agreement.”

His remarks that Canada should join the US were first taken as a joke. However, after repetition it become clear that he was serious in his statements. In his newest remarks, Trump told Fox News, "Frankly, Canada should be the 51st state, okay? It really should, because Canada relies entirely on the United States. We don't rely on Canada."

His threat of annexing Greenland, that caused transatlantic division, caused shivers in the bones of Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen prompting her to visit Berlin, Paris, and Brussels in late January with a focus on fostering "European unity". In Brussels, she met with former NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

The Trump administration also introduced sanctions on the UN Human Rights Council special rapporteur Francesca Albanese for Palestine as an outspoken critic of Israel's military offensive in Gaza. Intolerant of Albanese’s criticism of companies such as arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin for selling weapons, and tech firms Alphabet, IBM, Microsoft and Amazon for providing technology which allows Israel to track and target Palestinians, provoked the US to resort to the repetitive old policy of accusing the UN official of being ant-Semitic.

On July 21, in his latest rash decision, Trump pulled the US out of the UN culture and education agency UNESCO, repeating a move he had already ordered during his first term, which had also been reversed under Biden.  Trump justified the decision by claiming that the UN body is anti-Semitic.

All these moves are portraying the United States as a bully, rogue and pariah state that will make countries, even American friends, to rethink the quality of their relations with Washington.

 

US Election: A race like no other in history

Immediately after US President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race, a move not seen since President Lyndon Johnson stepped back at the height of the Vietnam War, a question suddenly arose. What path would Vice President Kamala Harris take to try and beat Donald Trump?

“Americans are going to have to choose between moving forward or backward, between hope and hate, between unity and division,” Biden said. “We have to decide—do we still believe in honesty, decency, respect, freedom, justice and democracy.”

The Republican nominee had been on a winning streak of late, avoiding a spotlight on his historic criminal conviction, pending trials or even repeated references to a fictional serial killer.

The media spent almost a month focused on Biden, his age and botched debate performance (Biden, at 81, is three years older than Trump).

Kamala wasted no time providing answers to the question. Her campaign is focusing on Trump’s status as a convicted felon, his various other legal entanglements, including being found liable for sexual abuse, and his starring role in blowing up abortion rights.

“I know Donald Trump’s type,” said the 59-year-old Kamala, a former US senator, state attorney general and district attorney.

Francis Wilkinson writes in Bloomberg Opinion that from here to November, the prosecutor should prosecute the predator. 

Polls showed the race tightening with Kamala’s entry, with more enthusiasm among Black and younger voters. Republicans are already trying to use immigration against her, despite Trump arguably being the main reason a bipartisan immigration reform bill was killed.

Then there’s the question of whether Americans are ready to elect the first female president.

Trump, who has a history of racist and misogynistic statements, risks alienating some of the very voters he needs if he pursues that track this time.

Many prominent Republicans however have already started racial attacks on Kamala, calling her “the DEI candidate.” In short, this is a race like no other in US history.

The next step will be for Kamala to select a running mate ahead of the Democratic National Convention.

As the new race was forming up this week, Biden addressed the nation, framing his decision to bow out as a way of uniting the country around a new generation of leaders. He also warned of what he’s said is the existential peril democracy faces in November. 

Courtesy: Bloomberg 

Mega donors of Biden Reelection Campaign

Reportedly, Joe Biden enjoys a deep groundswell of support from Jewish-Democratic benefactors, with giants in the worlds of Hollywood, Silicon Valley and Wall Street making up a significant portion of the US president’s fundraising as he begins his reelection bid in earnest.

Joe Biden’s reelection bid has some tough sledding ahead if the majority of polls that have emerged in recent months are to be believed. His fundraising efforts tell another story, though, with his reelection campaign already raking in significant donations – many coming from longtime Jewish Democratic mega donors.

An analysis of campaign finance disclosures showing contributions to Biden’s campaign and pro-Biden PACs and super PACs for 2023 illustrates a deep groundswell of support from Jewish-Democratic benefactors. They make up a significant portion of the president’s fundraising as he begins his reelection bid in earnest.

The donors in question – many of whom are in the finance industry, with others connected to Hollywood and Silicon Valley – vary in their prioritization of Israel as a campaign issue, as well as their respective involvements in local Jewish communities and philanthropies.

Their steadfast and deep-pocketed support for Biden indicates how the Democratic Party has generations-deep support within the American-Jewish community.

Polls have continuously shown that Jewish voters vastly prefer Biden over Donald Trump, with Israel rarely being among voters’ top priorities.

Despite this, American Jews are among the few groups who have stuck with Biden amid plummeting poll numbers (many of which stem from his approach to Israel, which centrist Democrats deem a threshold issue).

Haim Saban is perhaps the key pro-Israel mega donor for Biden, significantly overlapping between both the president’s reelection bid and AIPAC’s United Democracy Project super PAC.

He has given over US$936,000 to Biden, after donating US$ one million to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s super PAC.

While federal political action committees have strict limits on the amounts they can contribute, a super PAC is allowed to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to campaign independently for candidates for federal office.

Saban has long been one of the most important donors and fundraisers for the Democrats, generating millions of dollars for the party over the years. He has also made significant financial investments in pro-Israel organizations such as AIPAC and Friends of the Israel Defense Forces.

Saban also collaborated with late Republican mega donor Sheldon Adelson on the Israeli American Council, which was founded to organize Israeli expats living in the United States. He told The New Yorker in 2010 that he was “a one-issue guy, and my issue is Israel.”

Joining Saban as an overlapping mega donor is casino magnate Neil Bluhm. He has already given more than US$1.4 million this cycle to the Biden super PAC, on top of US$200,000 to United Democracy Project. His daughter Leslie, a social entrepreneur who sits on the AmeriCorps board of directors following an appointment from Biden in 2021, has given over US$554,000.