Who is Trump Working For?
The easy answer is that Trump works for Trump. But his approval rating is dropping, his base is narrowing, and he is not getting the love that he wants? So who is benefitting from Trump's actions? Let's take a look at what he has done since getting elected.
Trump has not been a friend of NATO? If anything, he is weakening our alliance with European countries and Canada. Nearly all of NATO's leaders have said that NATO’s biggest problem is President Trump. Trump has criticized the treaty and cast doubt on whether the USA would defend Europe against an invasion. So who does that benefit? Not the USA. Members of the NATO alliance fought alongside us in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq. They are good allies. The only country I can think of is Russia. Russia lost control over Eastern European countries when the USSR collapsed. The main thing standing in the way of Russia regaining that territory is NATO.
Trump also seems determined to interfere with the business relationship between China and the United States. He is slapping tarrifs on Chinese made goods and ordering US companies to leave China. This drives up the costs for US manufacturers and consumers, and also hurts China. Now who are the three biggest super-powers in the World? Russia and the USA are obviously tops and many would argue that China is third. So if Russia can get its two biggest competitors to fight each other, then who does that benefit?
Since 1776, America has stood as a powerful symbol of the success of democracy. Many others nations have been inspired to move towards democracy so they could be more like the United States. Now America is not looking so hot because democracy gave us Trump. So many countries are looking elsewhere for leadership. Putin seems like a genius compared to Trump. As our star falls, their star rises.
Another example of Trump helping Russia involves Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Our FBI and CIA detemined that Russia worked to influence the election. They accused Russia of planting fake news stories that favored Trump and hurt Hillary Clinton. The FBI indicted 12 Russians for this crime. Rather than backing up our own FBI, Trump sided with Putin because Putin said he didn't do it. Trump also acted several times to impede the investigation, and even fired the FBI director! This hurt our intelligence service, helped Russia, and also helped Trump. And we have to assume that Russia was acting in their own best interests when they helped Trump get elected.
One word that is commonly used to describe Trump is divisive. No one has stirred such strong emotions as Trump. Families struggle to get through the holidays together. Congress is divided. Trump even has members of his own party arguing with each other. Sadly, many Americans are stockpiling weapons in preparation for a new civil war. If Russia wants to defeat America then it may not have to lift a finger. We will just tear ourselves apart.
So is Trump making America great again? It doesn't feel like it. And who says America isn't already great. Maybe some other country wants to recapture their former glory, and Trump is helping them get there.