I went to a talk by an expert on American foreign policy last week who said that Trump should not be regarded as a fool. He spouts a lot of rubbish and grabs headlines and criticism from fact checkers. But having distracted the media and hogged the news agenda, he gets on with pursuing his policies.
The expert described how the US has operated a kind of global imperialism since the second world war, with its power embedded in military bases and financial institutions. Donald Trump is trying to prolong this hold on the world economic system, but it’s unclear whether he will succeed.
The expert said that although US power may be declining, a world war is less likely than in the last century. This is because of the intertwining of the world economy through globalisation. During the great banking crash of 2008/9, China propped up the US dollar to avert a global recession.

Donald Trump is far from being a clown, despite outward appearances. He is fairly obviously a narcissist but more than that has a relationship with the truth which only goes one way; he is always right, especially when he is undeniably wrong. 'Doubling down' is the phrase coined to sanctify this position but it leads to bad decisions that fail to be rectified by those who's job is to speak truth to power. Fear of replacement and even personal animosity keeps his critics acquiescent, especially the US press whose owners fear financial retribution for standing up to the President. As age compounds an already self deceiving nature he has become a self regarding King Midas who's touch turns everything to base lead, even though his perception is more of a golden metamorphosis. The ill-fated Iran war, the breakdown of trust with neighbours Canada, the financial and strategic turning away of Europe due to sanctions and bad faith in NATO, the high internal gas prices, farm closures, ever rising food costs, crazily out of reach everyday healthcare and ICE violence to legal immigrants and even its own citizens foreshadows the unravelling of a country under Trump's haughty gaze that is unprecedented in modern times. The road back will be a long, long journey.

Whether viewed as chaotic or calculated, the strategy at play is a classic "divide and conquer." By systematically targeting vulnerable groups, like immigrants, the disabled, and benefit recipients, a powerful mechanism of social control is created. When the general population witnesses the suffering and marginalisation of these groups, it creates an environment of fear and compliance. People become less likely to dissent or stand up, simply because they’ve seen what happens to those who are pushed to the fringes.

This dynamic is exactly why German theologian Martin Niemöller’s famous poem applies so heavily here:

"First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist..."

The warning is timeless. If society stays silent while the rights of the most marginalised are stripped away, it ultimately consolidates power for the leadership. Once those groups are gone, the infrastructure of control is already firmly in place to dominate everyone else.

There is a close similarly between Trump's actions and those of Woodrow Wison, who was President of the US from 1913-1921. Wilson had a deep-seated Southern prejudice about African Americans. In foreign policy, Wilson adhered to elitist nationalism that favoured exclusion over unity. The only difference between Trump and Wilson is superficial - Trump acts like a clown, while Wilson had a scholarly demeanour.