Trump's US delegation was 'dumbfounded' by hostile reception at Munich conference: report

[amcgrath]

68. My advice to the US delegation?

Don't worry about it.

The disdain shown by their European allies is in the very best tradition of international politics. And while they may appear to hold the US in contempt, they were putting on their best faces in order to keep the entente cordiale flowing.

What they should worry about is how much disgust the Europeans actually feel toward the US administration. And then once they done worrying about that, they should imagine how countries who aren't allies feel about them.

Allied countries undoubtedly stopped sharing some intelligence with the US a few years ago. Countries are less inclined to join the US in military actions. Russia and Canada increase exports to China and forge new bonds that will last beyond Trump. China won't come rushing back to US farmers since Russia has started trading pork and soy beans. American products are no longer seen as 'cool' in most parts of the world and people won't want to come and visit Disney.

If you want to see these changes in action, look no further than 5G, the US has been violently opposed to the adoption of systems made by Huawei. Once, I think that would have mattered. But now both allied and non-allied countries are simply going ahead. Huawei has closed its offices in Santa Clara and 600 jobs have moved to Canada.

Americans make up just over 4% of the worlds population. And while currently they are just regarded as a bad place to share intelligence with, and a bad place to do business with - Trump has threatened the U.K. with 25% tariffs on cars already - they are also well on their way to becoming an international pariah.

America has had bad presidents before. The world dealt with it and bided their time. They believed things would right themselves. Now they have seen there are no checks and balances. No white knights in the form of 'equal branches' that will ride to the rescue and halt the madness. If Trump gets reelected, or democrats fail to reform laws to ensure this never happens again, America is going to be a very lonely country.