photo #9390647

Michael McCune🇺🇸 𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐃 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐌𝐏 𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚’𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬?𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐧𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲?If you look at what is happening from its most simplistic perspective, I can understand why so many people believe Donald Trump has alienated the world.Canada is angry.Mexico is angry.European leaders are angry.Countries considered some of America’s closest allies since World War II are suddenly complaining about tariffs, trade, defense spending and America’s changing relationship with the world.Trump did it.Trump created the economic hardship.Trump alienated our allies.Trump is destroying the global order.And if dozens of countries are complaining about the United States, logic would seem to dictate that they cannot all be wrong.𝐈 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.Because with affordability now one of the defining issues heading into the midterms, perhaps we should look at Donald Trump’s tariffs, demands for greater allied defense spending, reductions in foreign aid and attempts to renegotiate America’s economic relationships through an entirely different lens.𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚’𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐜𝐭?Because America will never reach the destination of affordability if we continue making financial commitments we cannot afford and borrowing trillions of dollars to maintain them.For generations, part of America’s global strategy has been keeping our allies happy.We provided.We protected.We financed.We defended.And in return, America received alliances, influence and enormous strategic power.But there comes a point when maintaining the praise of your friends becomes truly unaffordable.There comes a point when you have to stop asking:𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐮𝐬?And start asking:𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬?Because the credit-card statement has arrived.And it’s approaching $40 trillion.So perhaps the time to start worrying about whether the world’s praise had become too expensive wasn’t today.𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 $𝟒𝟎 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐨.And you don’t solve a $40 trillion problem from only one side of the ledger.You reduce what goes out where you can.You increase what comes in where you can.You ask wealthy allies to carry more of their own security burden.You use access to the enormous American market as leverage.You encourage companies to build here.Hire here.Produce here.Invest here.Because reducing expenses is only half of the equation.𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚.But to understand how we got here, we need to understand the nature of the beast America helped create after World War II.So let’s simplify this.Imagine a family.A father.A mother.And dozens of children.Yes…That poor mother. 😂Now imagine Dad became extremely successful.He struggled when he was young. He worked. He sacrificed. He built businesses. He accumulated wealth.And like many successful parents, he wanted his children to have the things he never had.He didn’t want them to struggle the way he did.So he provided.And provided.And provided.The children became accustomed to the security.They became accustomed to the allowance.They became accustomed to Dad being there whenever something went wrong.If one of them got into trouble?Dad helped.If another couldn’t afford something?Dad helped.If somebody threatened one of the children?Dad stood between the child and the threat.Eventually something interesting happened.𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.And eventually the expectation became normal.Let me tell you a true story.One of my best friends in high school had a father who married a woman from France and brought her to the United States.She was an incredibly sweet woman.But she was also incredibly naïve about money.She was given a checkbook.And somehow she believed that as long as there were checks remaining in the checkbook…𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲.She wrote checks.She bought things.She continued writing checks.It never occurred to her that having another blank check didn’t mean there was another thousand dollars sitting in the bank.Eventually the phone started ringing.Creditors.Banks.Bounced checks.Reality had arrived.𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥.For decades Washington has continued writing checks.When there wasn’t enough money in the account, we didn’t stop writing them.𝐖𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞.And more.And more.Presidents came and went.Congresses came and went.Republicans and Democrats came and went.But the checks kept being written.And while Washington kept writing those checks, the children were becoming accustomed to something else:𝐃𝐚𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲.After World War II, the United States accepted an extraordinary responsibility for maintaining the security of the free world.We stationed forces around the globe.We protected shipping lanes.We built alliances.We helped defend Europe and allies in Asia.And America’s contribution to that system has never been measured simply by money labeled “foreign aid.”It also includes the enormous military capability American taxpayers maintain while the United States carries a large share of the burden of defending the alliance system itself.𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐚𝐢𝐝.𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲.And over generations, many of our allies became accustomed to something that had never existed on this scale before:𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.That arrangement wasn’t entirely charity.America benefited enormously from it.We gained influence.Markets.Alliances.Military access.Trade.Strategic power.The postwar system helped make America extraordinarily wealthy and powerful.But somewhere along the way, parts of that arrangement also became dependency.Many American allies could spend less of their economies on defense because the most powerful military in human history stood behind them.That meant money could be spent somewhere else.Healthcare.Social programs.Infrastructure.Domestic priorities.Meanwhile America continued carrying an enormous military burden.And eventually Dad opened the credit-card statement.𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤.It had been borrowed.That’s the part of this global argument that I believe gets overlooked.When Americans complain that money is being taken away from people suffering somewhere else in the world, there is an uncomfortable economic reality we eventually have to confront.If we must borrow the money to give it away…𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲.We are putting it on the credit card.And eventually somebody has to pay the bill.This is where Donald Trump enters the story.He walks into the kitchen.He puts the credit-card statement on the table.And essentially says:𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞.And suddenly Dad is the asshole.The children are angry.Of course they’re angry.They don’t particularly care that Dad’s credit cards are maxed out.They care that something they have received for decades may disappear.They don’t necessarily care about Dad’s financial problems.They care about their own.And that is where I believe much of the discussion surrounding Trump’s supposed “alienation” of the world misses the larger chessboard.Tariffs.Trade negotiations.Defense spending.NATO.Foreign aid.Manufacturing.Market access.These aren’t isolated coins being tossed into the air.𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝.And we’re already seeing part of the result.For years, many NATO countries spent considerably less on defense than Washington wanted them to.Today that is changing dramatically.Every NATO ally reached the previous 2% defense-spending benchmark in 2025, and NATO members have now committed to moving toward 5% of GDP for defense and security-related expenditures by 2035.Why?Because the relationship is changing.The children are being told they must increasingly participate in protecting the house.And perhaps that is what we’re actually witnessing.Not the destruction of America’s alliances.𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.There is an enormous difference.For generations America helped build a world in which many nations could rely upon American military and economic power.Now they’re being told the arrangement cannot continue indefinitely under the same terms.Naturally they’re angry.Nobody likes being told the allowance is changing.So when you hear someone speaking with anger, hatred or sarcasm about Donald Trump because of these economic choices, listen carefully to what they are actually saying.Are they angry because another country is being asked to spend more on its own defense?Because foreign aid has been reduced?Because tariffs are disrupting an economic relationship they had grown accustomed to?Because another nation is being told that access to American money, American markets and American military protection can no longer simply be taken for granted?And ask yourself one question:𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫?Or are they angry because someone finally told them the old arrangement cannot continue?Because that is exactly how the spoiled child responds when Dad finally puts the credit-card statement on the kitchen table.The child doesn’t ask:How much do we owe?How long have we been borrowing?How much interest are we paying?How much longer can Dad afford this?The child screams:𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞.And suddenly Dad is the bad guy.But the arithmetic doesn’t disappear simply because the children don’t like the person pointing at the bill.America cannot indefinitely borrow money to maintain an international arrangement we can no longer afford.At some point the family has to confront the statement sitting on the kitchen table.𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫.And for the sake of the family…𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐮𝐩.To contribute.To defend themselves.To accept responsibility for their own security.To become warriors in their own right.Because ultimately, if supporting the entire family sinks the United States…𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧.