Trump's most alarming actions of late is his treatment of friendly countries. In fact International Relations is his weakest aspect.
Bullying is not a successful long term strategy.
Free trade is what powers economic growth, not only around the world but in the United States.
Why does free trade make sense?
Free trade facilitates economies of scale. Instead of producing just for a domestic market, factories etc can be made to produce for a wider area if not for the entire world.
Free trade allows each nation to do what it does best. There are definitely areas in which the United States excels and other areas where other countries do better.
Free trade allows access to cheap goods and services and can be used to replace some immigration.
In what way will trade barriers hurt the United States?
Contrary to the aim of attracting firms to manufacture in the United States, many firms will be reluctant to do so because of the lack of stability. Some firms will relocate to the United States to make products for the US internal market but most firms will not locate there anymore for export because other countries are likely to erect retaliatory tariffs.
But some damage was done as firms will be reluctant to position their manufacturing in the US when their exports (and imports of raw materials or parts) could be subject to tariffs with the stroke of pens (the pen of the US President and from .
US aid is not just a philanthropic venture but can be used to buy goodwill and influence. One aspect to aid is not the amount that is handed over but reliability which is now in danger.
Some US adversaries are undoubtedly doing much better with some countries, this undermines the west and the US.
One area that the west is doing poorly with is communications. Russia has managed to brainwash and sow discord among vast segments of populations and not least among Trump supporters and instead of fighting this misinformation some Republicans have embraced it. Now is the time to turn the tables and counter these misinformation campaigns using different venues including this one.
The Military Security of the United States is enhanced by cooperation with other countries and definitely not by threatening not to cooperate with allies or worse threatening to take some of their territories as is the case with Greenland. The US has a great interest in maintaining military presence in Greenland and Iceland given these countries strategic geographic position. This includes positioning Radar systems necessary for any shield-like defensive system. It is common sense that if you seriously threaten these countries with a takeover it will not make sense for them to allow military facilities on their ground.
The greatest failure of all recent US Presidents is their lax attitude towards Putin the Russian puppeteer. This new Hitler "Putler" needs to be stopped cold in his tracks and his powers curtailed and not boosted by rewarding him for attacking Ukraine, a country his country promised to protect (along with the UK and US) in return for Ukraine giving up its nuclear weapons. Putler got a birthday present from Iran on October 7, 2023 who instructed Hamas to attack Israel. Putler is gradually enabling North Korea to hit the continental US with Nuclear Missiles. How can anyone who has the interest of the Republic of the United States at heart, turn a blind eye to this? Putler needs to be squashed.
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