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The Demolition of a Welcoming World

America's mad hatter is blowing up the world economy, alliances carefully built over generations and America's special status among nations

Steven Beschloss Apr 4

“The Mad Hatter and the March Hare trying to put the Dormouse into a teapot,” by artist John Tenniel, based on Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland.” (1910 image via Getty Images)

There was a time, decades ago, when holding up a passport and shouting “Don’t shoot! I’m American” was imaginable. Luckily, I’ve never needed to test it in dicey locations. But that notion is a good reminder that Americans have often had special advantages.

Being American was seen as honorable. Being American meant being free, open, democratic, generous. There was a kind of immunity it provided to live in the post-World War II world, emanating in part from the valiant role of America in helping defeat Hitler and the Nazis and helping save our democratic allies from the fascist menace. The Marshall Plan and the bright, youthful energy of John F. Kennedy later extended that dividend.

We can talk about Nixon and the Vietnam War, the arrogance of Ronald Reagan and the deadly ugliness of George W. Bush’s attacks on Iraq and Afghanistan, all tearing away at that positive picture of what it means to be American.

But Donald Trump’s grievance-fueled attacks on American allies and neighbors—Canada, Mexico, Greenland, Denmark, Panama, Germany, the European Union, NATO—have shown the world that this country is no longer a reliable partner. Those who we once knew were our friends and allies have been forced to strengthen themselves against an anti-democratic aggressor who seeks to do harm to their democratic nations.

And then Trump announced on Wednesday his mad-as-a-hatter assembly of tariffs against 180 countries and territories (and excludes Russia). As if this would be a useful strategy to “free” the U.S. from foreign goods and improve the domestic economy. As if every one of these countries’ trade policies can be reduced to “they’re ripping us off.” As if there’s no difference between friends and adversaries. As if each of these relationships can be reduced to mere economic transaction rather than a complex and often fragile web of mutual benefit and need. As if tearing apart the global supply chain that has helped build the American economy—and provided low prices to American consumers—is somehow going to make us all richer rather than threaten a downward spiral of uncertainty, retaliation and broken relationships that will take years to repair.

“Taxpayers have been ripped off for more than 50 years,” the mad hatter said. And, “Our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered” by other nations.

So much anger. So much grievance. So much underlying hatred and insecurity. So wrong as a foundation for any nation to build its economic and political policies, let alone a superpower that is intricately interconnected with the world economy and long-responsible for helping provide safety, stability and security.

Yet Trump’s lunacy goes unchecked by any of his cabinet of sycophants. These are not department heads leading American government. These are sniveling servants who’ve abdicated their duty to the U.S. Constitution, the American people and the country.

Just listen to the pathetic obeisance of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on CNN yesterday as the stock market plunged. “Let Donald Trump run the global economy,” said billionaire Lutnick. “He's knows what he's doing. He's been talking about it for 35 years. You gotta trust Donald Trump in the White House...Let Donald Trump fix the American economy."

So now we have Lutnick, drunk on power and untethered from reality, refusing to push back. Now we have flailing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent telling nations around the world to “sit back, take a deep breath, don’t immediately retaliate”—that “doing anything rash would be unwise.”

Get it? A Trump enabler—applauding the madman operating the levers—telling other nations to not do anything rash. It boggles the mind.

And while the cult leaders expect us all to pretend this is not simply how an ignorant, unleashed ruler fueled by a lifetime of grievance behaves—that there’s really some economic and political logic behind these disastrous acts—other leaders on planet Earth can see it for what it is. Listen to what they’re saying:

• Trump’s tariffs “have no basis in logic,” said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. “This is not the act of a friend.”

• “The U.S. government now believes that by raising tariffs on its imports in general, it can increase its own production, wealth and employment,” said Colombian President Gustavo Petro. “In my opinion, this may be a big mistake.”

• Trump’s tariffs are an “attack on a trade system that has created prosperity all round the world,” said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

• “We see no justification for this,” said Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin. “Disrupting this deeply integrated relationship [with the European Union] benefits no one. Tariffs drive inflation, hurt people on both sides of the Atlantic, and put jobs at risk.”

• Trump’s tariffs are a “major blow to the world economy,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “The consequences will be dire for millions of people around the globe.”

All this so the malignant man occupying the White House can revel in the delusion that he is the world’s greatest negotiator and master of the universe. We can only cross our fingers that we are not about to see endless rounds of retaliation by other nations followed by Trump’s counter-attacks and further escalation that will increase the harm to America and the world.

We can take some solace—some sliver of optimism—in four GOP senators joining the Democrats on Wednesday rejecting Trump’s foolish insistence that the 25 percent tariffs on Canada are justified by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Mitch McConnell—one of the four along with Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Rand Paul—said this: “Trade wars with our partners hurt working people most. Tariffs drive up the cost of goods and services. They are a tax on everyday working Americans.” Too little too late, Mitch.

But let’s not doubt that the damage to America and to the world—to the carefully constructed relationships and alliances built over the last century—has been permanently altered. The days when Americans can be in the world with pride have been replaced by the terrible reality that a madman is turning our beloved country into a pariah state.

It has been a long-held belief that what happened in Nazi Germany could not happen here—that our centuries-old democratic system that relies on a separation of powers and checks and balances would withstand the rise of a despot. Well, we can all see that that cherished assumption has not held against the rise of an entranced cult, 77 million voters unleashing the hounds, a right-wing Supreme Court supermajority immunizing a felonious president and supporting oligarchy, and a Republican-controlled Congress that has abandoned its duty to the rule of law, the Constitution and sanity itself.

The fate of our republic is in our hands, friends. We can still prove to our children and future generations that we were not lockstep with this terrible regime. That means fully embracing what “we the people” really means so that our nation and its principles “shall not perish from the Earth,” as Abraham Lincoln urged us.

That means recognizing our collective power. That means using every tool at our disposal, day by day, inch by inch, and gradually expanding the resistance of all us who can see that America’s president is mad as a hatter.

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