Chaotic is a charitable description of America’s international policies.

“Don’t look now, but most world leaders are laughing at the idea that the United States is a reliable partner,” writes Dan Rather today.

There’s the Ukrainian “peace plan” written by the Soviets and “negotiated” by billionaire Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, neither of whom have diplomatic or foreign policy experience. It’s a complete sell-out of that beleaguered country whose leaders had no seat at the table.

There’s the Trump boycott of two international summits - the G20 economic summit held in Johannesburg, South Africa last weekend and the COP30 UN climate change conference held in Brazil the two weeks before, the first time in 30 years that the U.S. government was not there. By absenting himself from these events, Trump gave a tremendous boost to our biggest rival, China.

Trump’s attack on Venezuela is another bad move. His stated enemy, the Cartel de los Soles supposedly headed by President Maduro, doesn’t actually exist. But that didn't stop him from declaring it a foreign terrorist organization, giving U.S. law enforcement broader powers to intervene.

Then there’s the on-again, off-again tariff wars, the administration’s anti-European and anti-NATO rhetoric, the bullying of Zelensky in the Oval Office, the red carpet treatment of the murderous Saudi crown prince, and more. Rather concludes, “…America is fast losing respect and influence around the world. We are weaker internationally than we were when this president first took office.”

https://substack.com/home/post/p-180066651