The View from Abroad: How Trump 2.0 is Breaking the West

Markets are falling, Kyiv is burning, and Bruce Springsteen is outselling every MAGA rocker combined. Inside the fear, fury, and farce of Trump’s foreign and domestic unraveling.

The world is watching and recoiling as Donald Trump continues his second term with the grace of a wrecking ball in a glass factory. In a keynote address to the International Democracy Union, Lord Ashcroft laid out polling data that paints a stark picture: America's traditional allies no longer see it as a reliable partner. In fact, in Britain, France, and Germany, many now view the United States as a rival, an unstable empire thrashing through its own contradictions. The Trump administration, Ashcroft warned, has not only accelerated the decline of U.S. credibility abroad but has triggered a deeper, identity-level rupture between the Western allies. It's no longer a contest between globalism and nationalism, he said, but between two kinds of patriotism, enlightened and vindictive. One might call it the geopolitical version of the Springsteen vs. Kid Rock divide.

On Times Radio, University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers delivered a companion piece to Ashcroft’s sobering data, a masterclass in economic dread. The news broke mid-broadcast: Trump had just announced 50% tariffs on the European Union and 25% tariffs specifically targeting Apple products made outside the U.S. Wolfers, dripping from the shower and audibly dismayed, described the move as "terrifying" and "almost certainly illegal," noting that such company-specific tariffs are unprecedented in modern trade policy. “I went into the shower with 10% tariffs and came out with 50%,” he quipped. The broader economic takeaway? Chaos is the policy. The unpredictability is the point.

And that’s exactly what has foreign investors spooked and American businesses screaming into their spreadsheets. If you’re an importer today, there’s no telling whether your next shipment will be taxed at 10%, 50%, or spontaneously combusted for “national security” reasons. Add to that Trump’s “big, beautiful” tax bill, what economist Bobby Kogan calls the largest upward redistribution of wealth in American history, and the picture becomes clear: the 1% gets tax cuts; everyone else gets tariffs, layoffs, or a deportation notice.

Speaking of which, private prison stocks are booming again. GEO Group and CoreCivic are riding high on the administration’s mass deportation strategy. More Perfect Union calls it a modern-day gold rush, but for human suffering. Inside the facilities, whistleblowers report starvation, medical neglect, and deaths, conditions that some are calling modern-day concentration camps. The cruelty is the business model.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is trying to rewrite the rules of legal accountability by waging war on law firms. Jenner & Block became the latest target of Trump’s personal vendettas, which were tied not to policy but to the firm’s past association with Robert Mueller’s team. A federal judge struck down the executive order targeting the firm, calling it a flagrant violation of the First Amendment and an attempt to "muzzle" political opponents through legal intimidation. It’s the second such defeat for Trump’s anti-lawyer campaign, following a similar ruling protecting Perkins Coie. If you’re keeping score, the Constitution is still occasionally winning.

Not so lucky is the National Security Council, which is being gutted in real time. Trump has ordered staffing cuts of more than 50%, reducing one of the most vital interagency bodies to a loyalty-filtered shell. Power is being consolidated under Marco Rubio, who now serves both as Secretary of State and acting National Security Adviser. Vice President JD Vance’s team, meanwhile, is ascending quietly in the background. What used to be the NSC’s role, coordinating policy between Defense, State, and the intelligence community, will now be handled by the same crew that brought you TikTok bans and “Catch-and-Revoke” visa revocation.

And if anyone’s still wondering why international confidence in the U.S. is collapsing, just look to Kyiv.

Overnight, Russia launched one of its most brutal airstrikes since the war began, 250 Iranian Shahed drones and 14 ballistic missiles rained down on the Ukrainian capital. Fires broke out across the city. Residential buildings were hit. Civilians were injured and hospitalized. President Zelensky, in a somber address, reiterated Ukraine’s desire for a ceasefire, but once again pointed out that Moscow has no interest in ending the war, and the Trump administration appears far more focused on undercutting NATO than defending it. The timing of Trump’s tariffs, hours before the assault, makes for chilling symmetry: a continent under siege, and America punishing its own allies.

And what is the President doing while the markets nosedive and war escalates? He's golfing. Donald Trump has fled to Bedminster for the holiday weekend, presumably to commune with the gods of Titleist and vengeance while the rest of us figure out how to navigate a currency-sapping, investor-panicking, democracy-eroding minefield.

But let’s not end on a bunker shot. Somewhere between Brussels and Bedminster, a true American icon offered a little musical justice. Bruce Springsteen’s album sales have skyrocketed since he called out Trump during his Land of Hope and Dreams tour, with reports indicating he’s outselling Kid Rock and Ted Nugent by a ratio of 8,647 to 1. While Trump rants on Truth Social and the markets burn, the Boss is reminding the world that resistance still has a soundtrack and it comes with saxophones, not assault rifles.

Now that’s what I call patriotism.