Trump, part two: Is America losing its global leadership role?

What are the implications of Donald Trump’s return to our regional and Arab issues: the Israeli occupation, the Gaza genocide, Iran’s threats and its nuclear programme, and Gulf security? America’s allies are increasingly concerned about Trump’s approach and his apparent alignment with their adversaries, especially Russia’s Vladimir Putin, a president outside the global Establishment clique. Questions are being asked about the US president’s volatility and unpredictability as he tramples over negotiations, agreements, legal obligations and the charters of international organisations founded and led by the US.

It was believed widely that no US president could be more supportive of Israel’s settler-colonialism and genocide than Joe Biden, who oversaw, colluded with and used America’s veto five times in the UN Security Council to ensure the continuation of the genocidal war against the Palestinians in Gaza.

Trump has shown that such a belief was mistaken.

He has taken Biden’s place at the head of Israel’s cheerleaders, even though the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant last November.

After Trump’s proposal to seize the Gaza Strip and displace the Palestinians to Egypt, Jordan and, as was leaked recently, Sudan, Somalia and elsewhere, it sparked an angry response from the Arab world. Jordan’s King Abdullah was clearly embarrassed during his subsequent pre-arranged visit to the White House. The Arab League convened a mini-summit in Riyadh and a full summit in Cairo to respond to Trump’s bullying in order to reach a consensus to adopt the Egyptian plan for Gaza. The League of Arab States called for a ceasefire and the reconstruction of Gaza without displacing its population. This was, predictably, rejected by Trump and Netanyahu, even though Trump’s plan was described as “ethnic cleansing” across the international community. The US president backed down eventually, and announced that his plan for the future of devastated Gaza — which made no mention of who was responsible for the devastation — is a non-binding recommendation.

READ: UAE secretly lobbying US to work against Egypt’s post-war Gaza reconstruction plan, officials say

It looks as if Trump believes that winning a second term gives him a mandate to act without restraint at home too, by dismantling and weakening the deep state, and taking revenge against his political opponents. He has downsized the federal bureaucracy and government, and merged or closed several federal agencies. Tens of thousands of angry Americans have been made redundant, and are openly critical of Trump and his new best friend Elon Musk, the world’s richest man. Unelected Musk has been entrusted with managing federal competence with near-absolute authority.

A growing number of Americans are expressing their anger at Trump’s policies and their possible repercussions, not least the tariffs imposed on goods imported from Canada, Mexico, China and European Union member states. Will this mean higher prices for commodities and services in the US, and increased inflation? And even, as Trump himself has hinted, an economic recession?

Few Americans believe that they voted for Trump to annex Canada and Greenland, reclaim the Panama Canal and seize control of Gaza and displace its people.

And reinstate the “Muslim ban” that he implemented in 2017 during his first presidency, banning citizens from six Muslim-majority countries from entering the country. Biden rescinded the ban, describing it as “stain on our national conscience” and “inconsistent with our long history of welcoming people of all faiths and no faith at all.”

The response of Trump II has been to prepare a blatantly racist and hostile draft presidential order intended to restrict the entry of citizens from 43 countries to the US. The red list is topped by Muslim countries, namely Syria, Yemen, Libya, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, Iran and Afghanistan. The orange list, which has the strictest visa requirements, includes Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Russia, South Africa and South Sudan. The yellow list, which has the least restrictive visa requirements, includes mostly African countries, including Mauritania.

Trump adopted Russia’s propaganda regarding its war in Ukraine and he shocked allies by announcing that the US would not defend NATO members unless they increase their defence budgets. This is a clear violation of Chapter V of the NATO Charter, which requires all member states (of which there are now 32) to defend any other member when attacked.

READ: UK says civilian casualties from Israeli strikes on Gaza ‘appalling’

The Trump administration has recently leaked information about secret direct negotiations between the US and Hamas (which has been designated as a “foreign terrorist organisation” since 1997), mediated by Qatar and coordinated with Netanyahu, to agree a long-term ceasefire and the release of the five American captives, followed by all of the rest. This was done to bypass Netanyahu’s unwillingness to stop the genocide and his deliberate sabotage of negotiations. Trump has repeatedly threatened Hamas to release all the captives or face “hell” (as if Gaza is not “hellish” already, thanks to the occupation state aided and abetted by the US).

Hamas responded by saying that Trump’s threat supports Netanyahu’s violation of the ceasefire agreement.

Now we know that the Trump White House gave the green light for the resumption of Israel’s barbaric bombardment of the Gaza Strip, with 500+ Palestinians killed on Monday alone.

The result is a decline in Trump’s popularity in America to about 45 per cent, the lowest since he entered the White House two months ago. Moreover, between 60 and 88 per cent of Europeans and NATO allies do not trust Trump’s policies and view them as a threat to peace. This is the dangerous reality that is poisoning America’s relationship with its allies very early in his second-term presidency.

The position of US president is traditionally the “leader of the free world”, but the incumbent is alienating his Western allies. This should ring alarm bells in Arab capitals who put their own trust in Washington’s promises and support. It is fair to say that Trump’s return to the White House has already destabilised the global order shaped and led by his predecessors since World War II. America is losing its global leadership role.

READ: Israel’s recent air strikes cause ‘largest single-day’ death toll for children in past year: UNICEF chief

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.