Difficult as it is to accept for many in the Western world, the U.S. under Trump is acting like a global emperor and intentionally withdrawing from its traditional role as the global leader; pivoting away from democracy, and dethroning democracy is Trump and his allies’ primary goal in their push for the removal of constraints in their self-serving pursuits. Their aspired world is an antithesis of accountability. Thus, they view the Western socio-political status quo as the enemy and Russia, North Korea and China as less of a threat to their interests and tolerable. Disinformation and misinformation are core to Trump’s regime’s survival.
The democratic world has often looked up to the U.S. for global leadership. That default position needs reviewing as Trump’s U.S. is Trump first. Until Trump occupied the White House, previous occupants understood and were under no illusion that working with Western allies in pursuit of diplomatic interventions as opposed to coercion achieved lasting peace. Trump’s U.S. is a selfish transactional regime serving Trump his allies first.
One such ally, Peter Thiel, the German-American billionaire co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund and a first outside investor in Facebook and a mega-donor for Republican candidates and causes since 2000, has often expressed his reservations for democracy. His often-cited quote is, “I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible.” It is no coincidence that the default position of Trump’s regime and allies including Stephen Miller (his Homeland Security Advisor) is to rip apart democratic institutions, erode checks and balances which they see as ‘lunatic leftist’ hindrances to protecting U.S. national interests.
Now we must judge the U.S. for what it is not what we would like it to be. Our eyes and ears are not deceiving us, the U.S. under Trump is a moral stain on the collective global democratic efforts to improve humanity; his U.S. is no longer a global leader but a bully and real threat to democratic institutions both at home and globally.
Trump has long openly expressed his admiration for autocrats, dictators, and strongmen; in his second term, he is making good on his promise to his supporters during the 2024 election campaign to be a dictator on day one. Since taking office, he has made a flurry of unconstitutional executive orders to weaken democratic institutions. And he has been actively threatening Republican congress members who oppose his actions and has weaponised the Department of Justice to bully and prosecute his enemies.
If, against all odds, Brexit succeeded, disintegration and regression of democracy is not beyond the realms of America’s possibility; using armed, masked agents to abduct peaceful protesters off U.S. streets and detaining them is State overreach. Excusing violence and murder by state agents while blaming victims of that violence has dictatorship written all over it.
A leadership that seeks to control public perception, tells citizens to believe the leader, not what they see, and not the systems is a dangerous cult. The U.S. no longer believes in the rule of law but the rule of power where might is right. It is ignoring its constitutional provisions to break standing international laws to invade other countries and kidnap their leaders. Equally disturbing is the fragrant breaking of domestic laws to abduct citizens and threatening legislators who question the obvious government overreach; the country no longer possesses moral authority to lead the free world.
Western governments must accept that Trump’s regime is an 180o departure from the post-1945 world order; the U.S. no longer wants to be the leader of the current world order. Even more revealing, it no longer priorises its traditional allies but gives special deference to Putin and Xi.
However, it is not in the West’s interest to invest in pushing against the U.S. de-democratisation agenda and desire to rule like a global emperor. Instead, the West must rethink its international partnerships, improve existing partnerships in the global South, create new security structures and promote effective local democratic policies that further decentralise governance, increase access to equal opportunity to influence power, remove money in politics to make mega-donors, lobby groups and corporates obsolete in how government decisions are made.
Trump’s U.S. is the 1930s Germany; it is not for wider humanity but White race alone. It thrives on delegitimising and cruelty towards non-White races and its opponents. His allies are openly supporting White nationalist movements in Europe and at home. Trump himself has made lies and dangerous divisive rhetoric his trademark – he demonises immigrant communities, women and non-White Americans.
Political posturing is dismantling vital global societal and economic mechanisms that have been essential for U.S. influence. Institutions are weakened and weaker population groups are increasingly exposed to government overreach; the world becomes a dangerous place. Significant U.S. institutions, however, remain strong enough to push back at the Trump regime’s dictatorial tendencies.
Mthwakazi Independent 
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