We’re not a year into the Trump administration and much of the good we have come to know is disappearing.
Last week Donald Trump revealed his new “National Security Strategy.” It is unquestionably “his” strategy…but is it “ours?” Will it make us and our friends around the world more secure? I don’t think so. Trump is doing to the system that has preserved and improved this world for more than 80 years precisely what he did to the East Wing of the White House. It is being demolished.
What is it that is being destroyed, where did it come from, and what will be left?
I was born in the middle of World War Two, a conflict that cost 60 to 80 million lives around the world — known and unknown, honored or despised, innocent or guilty. The human slaughter seemed beyond belief, perhaps the worst of it only becoming clear to the public when the concentration camps were opened.
The United States and its allies prevailed over the racist dictatorship of Adolf Hitler; his ethno-nationalist partner, Benito Mussolini; and the even more intensely ethno-nationalist regime of the Emperor Hirohito of Japan. They considered their opponents to be filth, animals, vermin, or trash.
Actually, they weren’t too sure of their Axis partners either.
World War II was the culmination of unresolved conflicts that preceded it in Europe and Asia. In the Middle East and Africa, colonialism had meant killing for profit, not to mention civil wars and violent revolutions. The only more terrifying element in all this was the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which introduced the possibility of an even greater, perhaps the ultimate danger in the future…nuclear war between nuclear powers.
In the aftermath of World War Two, world leaders sought ways to break the cycle of increasing devastation that they had seen and experienced. To be sure, not all of them in the same way nor with identical motivations but they had seen the consequences of international aggression and feared the possibility of nuclear war in the future. Their actions at that time began the creation of the world in which we now live…for the moment.
The United Nations was created. The concept of “international law” emerged. Conflict — domestic and international — did not go away, but it was more contained. With the success of the Chinese Communists in 1949, that which would become “The West” came more clearly into view.
In the United States, the Truman Administration created and implemented the Marshall Plan. It was in our interest that Western Europe recover, that Germany, Italy, and Japan throw off their authoritarianism and become prosperous democracies. When the progress of that shaky situation was threatened by Russia unleashing the invasion of South Korea, the resistance was led by the United States, wearing the cloak of the United Nations. It was successful, with Truman and Eisenhower playing crucial roles.
Suffering did not disappear. World Peace was not at hand. But the world was changing slowly and, until recently, pretty steadily in a positive direction.
With the birth of the European Union, a far more unified and democratic Western Europe began to emerge. With a restless Stalin wanting to expand Soviet power — meddling in Greece, Italy, and Turkey — the NATO alliance was formed. At first, 12; then, 14; and ultimately, 32 western nations joined a purely defensive coalition. The message was clear. Russian aggression would be resisted, forcefully. America was the biggest, the richest, and the leader of what was becoming “The West,” which ultimately came to include Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. It was not just a geographic entity. It was something greater. The West was defined by its commitment to democratic norms. It could serve as a strong, if imperfect, model for emerging democracies in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
And then…Trump.
On December 11, 1941, the Fascist Axis declared war on the United States. We responded and, with our Allies, we prevailed. What followed was 80 years of increasing, if sometimes acrimonious, progress. On December 4, 2025, Trump presented a “National Security Strategy” that will bring that process to a halt. His open and obvious trashing of Western traditions and values is singular, unprecedented, and shameful. He couldn’t care less.
In the coming days, weeks, and months, I hope Trump’s formal abandonment of “The West” receives more attention. As Ukraine heroically defends itself, Trump seeks to cede it to Russia in exchange for unchallenged control of the Western Hemisphere (he thinks).
Europe? Nothing to do with us (he thinks).
Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, New Zealand, Australia? Nothing to do with us (he thinks).
Trump is not a mature statesman. He’s a barroom bully drunk with his own personal power. As he starts the process of ceding Ukraine to Russia, he looks for a cheap win in Venezuela? His priorities are short sighted but connected.
“I’ll give up on Zelensky,” he nods to Putin, “If you give up on Maduro.”
The distance between Washington and London is 3,600 miles; between DC and southern Argentina it is more than 6,000. And the difference is not just one of mileage. For some 175 years we have had a “special relationship” with London and so many of our friends and allies around the world. Trump just gifted 20 billion dollars to his “special friend,” the most recent Argentine dictator to make sure he stayed in power. He tried to do the same thing with Bolsonaro in Brazil. Those dictators are his special friends, not America’s. It’s a different kind of friendship.
Trump is doing to the system that has preserved and improved this world for more than 80 years precisely what he did to the East Wing of the White House. It is being demolished.
Where should a Patriotic American come down on all this?
Jim Walsh lives in Nahant.
