Nero famously played his fiddle while Rome burned; likewise, Donald Trump is golfing as America descends into crisis.
Despite only beginning his second term in January, Donald Trump has already taken many dangerous and damaging actions, from introducing blanket tariffs on countries to threatening allies. These tariffs are part of a broader pattern of economic policies that have not only hurt global relationships but also undermined the very stability of the American economy. Following the fall of the Soviet Union, the United States existed as the sole superpower in the world in a time that was dubbed the ‘unipolar moment.’ However, the unipolar American-led world order has been declining for years now, especially given the growth of China, and Trump has greatly accelerated that decline.
Let me be clear: I condemn Donald Trump’s reckless economic policies, his threats to allies, and his spiraling efforts to destabilize global relations. But let me also be equally clear that the country’s history was problematic even before Trump: I do not support traditional American imperialism. I do not support the previous practices that have long been used to justify coups, invasions, and global domination under the banner of “freedom.” With that being said, Trump has taken a number of unprecedented steps, threatening to destabilize the world, almost unlike any previous U.S. president.
Tariffs
Trump recently introduced a drastic increase in tariffs, with a 20% tariff being placed on goods imported from the European Union. Strangely, he left Russia and North Korea off the list of tariffed countries, while placing tariffs on the uninhabited Heard and McDonald islands. These tariffs pose a threat to both the American and world economy, with the U.S. stock market entering a bear market as a result of these announcements. Trump’s tariffs represent fundamental misunderstandings by the administration regarding their function Tariffs can protect domestic industries in certain circumstances, but blanket tariffs like the ones Trump has introduced are simply inflationary measures, raising the cost of goods for ordinary Americans, especially for goods which have no American made alternative. For example, the tariffs will affect the importation of coffee, a product that the U.S. can only produce in small quantities in Hawaii and Puerto Rico but will never be able to grow enough to meet domestic demand. Trump sees bringing manufacturing back to America as a positive, but in doing so, he overlooks the fact that these jobs have been replaced by different, higher-skilled jobs. If these manufacturing jobs were to return to the U.S., it wouldn’t mean the return of well-paying, high-quality jobs; instead, it would likely result in low-paying jobs with poor benefits.
There have also been speculations that the administration has used Chat-GPT to calculate these tariffs, due to the fact that Chat-GPT gives an answer similar to what the administration is imposing when asked how to reduce trade deficits. If true, this represents a degree of recklessness on part of the administration that we haven’t seen before. These so-called ‘reciprocal tariffs’ aren’t actually based on the tariffs other countries impose on U.S. goods; instead, they’re simply calculated based on the trade deficit those countries have with the U.S., which is absurd. Additionally, they have the potential of doing the exact opposite of what Trump claims he wants to do, as these tariffs will also increase the costs of input goods used in manufacturing, reducing the competitiveness of American manufacturing on the global markets. These tariffs have also led to states around the world rallying against the United States, with unlikely partnerships springing up around the world. Recently, China, South Korea, and Japan stated they would jointly respond to Trump’s tariffs, a suggestion which would have been unfathomable mere months ago.
Even more worryingly, Trump recently shared a video on social media which suggested he was intentionally using these tariffs to crash the stock markets, and raises questions as to Trump’s true motivations. One purely speculative possibility is that he could be aiming to do a wealth transfer from the average, working class people to the wealthy. This is because, as goods become more expensive, working class people will have to sell off their market holdings, allowing the wealthy to buy it up at discounted prices. The U.S. middle class has been continuously shrinking since the 1970s, and Trump’s plans would accelerate that decline even faster. Although Trump’s exact motivations are unknown, one thing is crystal clear, that Trump’s policies are proving to be severely damaging for the American and world economies.
Trump’s reckless actions pose a threat to economies around the world, and could signal the end of the American-led world order as we know it as countries seek to form partnerships with other, more stable states. These reckless policies could also have other knock-on effects, such as the US dollar no longer being the world’s reserve currency over time.
Threatening Allies
Trump has also consistently threatened American allies. For instance, he has repeatedly threatened Canada, calling it the ‘51st state’ and also has threatened to take Greenland from Denmark multiple times. This is in addition to the myriad of other threats he’s leveled, ranging from threatening to take over places ranging from the Panama canal to Gaza. He has also tried to coerce Ukraine with outrageous demands, such as by seeking approximately $500 billion of their minerals. Additionally, he has repeatedly falsely claimed that Ukraine started the war, despite the fact that it was Russia that invaded them. These imperialistic threats against countries are rapidly destroying both the soft and hard power the U.S. has, as countries see the U.S. as an unstable partner. Many countries are already starting to shift away from the United States, with many European countries looking to buy locally produced weapons rather than American made weapons.
Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)
Among the myriad of disastrous plans and policies Trump has put in place, one of the most disastrous has been the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by Elon Musk. Since the creation of DOGE, there has been a constant stream of dangerous and disastrous cuts. One of the most ludicrous examples of this was when multiple key scientists from the National Nuclear Security Administration were fired. This agency is responsible for the security of the U.S. nuclear stockpile and is vital for ensuring weapons of mass destruction remain secure and not vulnerable to theft. Soon after their termination, the administration attempted to rehire them, realizing their massive mistake. This is just one of many examples showcasing the administration’s incompetence. Additionally, DOGE has been making cuts which are damaging to the welfare of the American people, for example, they have already fired over 2,400 employees from the Department of Veterans Affairs (with potential plans to fire 80,000), which is responsible for providing healthcare to veterans.
Democratic Backsliding
Under Trump’s reign, we are also seeing the erosion of democratic norms in America as we know it. People have been detained and sent to prisons in El Salvador. The Trump administration claims these people are dangerous criminals, despite many of them having no criminal backgrounds. Even more worryingly, a man who was living in Maryland was recently sent to prison in El Salvador by the Trump administration without cause. Despite lacking any substantial evidence, they falsely claimed he was a member of MS-13, an infamous gang designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. government. The administration now asserts that he was sent there as the result of an ‘administrative error.’ In response, a Federal judge ordered the government to release the man, and the administration has not released the man, claiming that the courts don’t have jurisdiction in the matter due to him no longer being in U.S. custody. This is, in my opinion, one of the most worrying assertions thus far. The man is there in an El Salvadoran prison at the behest of the U.S. government, and the U.S. government is claiming they don’t need to follow U.S. court orders.
This is something that should be very worrying for everyone, as no one knows who they might detain without cause next. Trump has recently expressed interest in sending American citizens to El Salvadoran prisons as well, and given how the current situation is unfolding, this could signal that there’s still much worse things to come.
This is even more worrying given that Trump might invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 on (or after) April 20th. Speculation that he might invoke the Insurrection Act stems from an executive order Trump signed on January 20th, titled ‘Declaring a National Emergency at the Southern Border of the United States’. In this Executive Order, he wrote that “within 90 days of the date of this proclamation, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit a joint report to the President about the conditions at the southern border of the United States and any recommendations regarding additional actions that may be necessary to obtain complete operational control of the southern border, including whether to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807”. This, coupled with sending prisoners to El Salvador, should be alarming to everyone, as Trump would then be able to deploy troops around America, and given his willingness to ignore democratic norms, only time will tell how this will play out.
Trump has also launched an attack on what can be displayed in federally funded museums attempting to rewrite American history to fit his political agenda. For example, he signed an executive order seeking to remove “improper, divisive or anti-American” ideology from museums. He has particularly called out the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, a museum that displays exhibits about American slavery. Alarmingly, he also has seized control of the Kennedy Center by taking over as their chairperson, with him seeking to completely overhaul their programs.
Trump and his administration have also been pursuing the agenda outlined in Project 2025’s 900+ page Mandate for Leadership, a far-right political initiative designed to push conservative policies across the U.S. and consolidate power within the executive branch. Project 2025 is, at its core, based on the Unitary Executive Theory, which suggests that the president should have complete control over the executive branch (including its agencies), without interference from Congress or the judiciary. This is deeply problematic and fundamentally unconstitutional as it could dismantle the system of checks and balances that is vital to American democracy, effectively allowing the executive branch to operate with little to no oversight, which would put unprecedented power in the hands of the president.
Project 2025 proposes a number of very worrying plans, for example, it proposes a major overhaul of the federal government, shifting from nonpartisan civil servants to political appointees, while expanding the executive branch’s power to surveil American citizens. Additionally, the project seeks to end birthright citizenship in the U.S., among other concerning plans. Project 2025 threatens to dismantle fundamental civil liberties, and given the current administration’s disregard for the rule of law, it could mark a troubling shift toward fascism. The Heritage Foundation, which developed Project 2025, has previously described it as the “second American Revolution”. This is deeply concerning, given that the plans outlined in the project aim to reduce, rather than expand, civil liberties.
Signal Leak
In yet another example of recklessness, there was recently a leak from a Signal chat (now dubbed SignalGate) in which senior cabinet level officials (including the Vice President) were discussing air strikes against the Houthis in Yemen, and contained potentially classified information. This leak occurred when National Security Advisor Michael Waltz accidentally added Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, to the chat. This alone signals recklessness, but even more worrying is the fact that they were using Signal for official government communications, which should never have happened. The use of Signal is no accident, it is straight out of Project 2025, and was recommended to (illegally) avoid information requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), thereby allowing them to avoid accountability.
Is America in decline like the Roman Empire once was?
A lot of the problems which the United States is currently facing echoes the problems that led to the collapse of the Roman Empire. To quote Voltaire, “History never repeats itself. Man always does”, and I would argue that Trump is repeating the mistakes of past leaders. Rome fell because of a myriad of reasons, including external pressures, internal instability, and a failing economy, which echoes what the United States is currently facing.
The power of the United States has long been based on an imperialist, U.S.-dominated world order, which is now rapidly falling apart under Trump. While this American-led order has been in decline for a while, Trump has sped up its collapse through incompetence (or maybe even malice). This has been seen in the ongoing democratic backsliding, harmful economic policies, and threats to both adversaries and allies. We’re quickly shifting from a unipolar world led by the U.S. to a more multipolar world, with civil liberties in the U.S. rapidly deteriorating under Trump.
They say that history doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes. If that’s true, the United States is beginning to hum a familiar tune–the same one that echoed during the fall of the Roman Empire. As the United States faces unprecedented challenges both at home and abroad, the question remains: Can America recover from these reckless policies, or are we witnessing the beginning of a decline similar to that of the Roman Empire?
Author’s Note: The situation in the United States continues to evolve by the hour. Tariff policies, international responses, and domestic fallout are continuously evolving. This article reflects the most current information available at the time of writing
