The World Is Moving On

While Trump blusters and America falters, allies and enemies alike are making other plans.

I’ve been wrestling with a touch of flu this week, which makes it harder to keep up with America’s meltdown in real time. Unfortunately, chaos doesn’t care about my fever sweats.

While I’ve been pounding tea and DayQuil, the world has quietly decided it’s done waiting for the United States to grow up.

In London, French President Emmanuel Macron stood before the British Parliament and declared, “The Europeans will never abandon Ukraine. Never.” It wasn’t just a show of support for Ukraine; it was Europe’s divorce papers, filed politely but firmly against the chaos and cowardice that America’s leadership has become.

Meanwhile, Russia launched its largest drone barrage yet, 728 drones and 13 missiles, against Ukraine, mere hours after Trump, in a rare moment of mild backbone, called Putin’s excuses “bullsh*t.” Ukraine, fighting for its life while America argues over copper tariffs, shot down 718 of those drones. That’s what happens when a country actually defends democracy rather than using it as a campaign slogan.

And Trump? He likes to talk tough about Putin. Remember how he’s always bragged that Putin would never have invaded Ukraine if he was in charge because of some “strong conversation” he once had? We finally know what that conversation was: In leaked audio, Trump told donors he threatened Putin and Xi Jinping that if they moved on Ukraine or Taiwan, he would… do something crazy. Something “they wouldn’t believe.” Something so tough that it apparently scared them into compliance.

Except, of course, Putin wasn’t scared. He invaded Ukraine anyway, and six months into Trump’s second term, Putin’s still not listening. Trump’s mad about it, muttering about how “Putin has changed,” like a jilted boyfriend who can’t accept it’s over. For all his bluster, Trump’s threats meant nothing because they were empty, performative, and aimed at donor wallets rather than actual deterrence.

It’s the same pattern everywhere. Trump says he’ll end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours, but then fumbles weapons shipments because his own Defense Secretary didn’t bother telling him they paused deliveries. He says he’ll sanction Russia, but somehow those sanctions never materialize. He calls Putin “tough,” then claims Putin would never cross him, then watches helplessly while Putin does exactly that.

Meanwhile, in Canada, a quiet but profound realization is setting in: their greatest security threat isn’t Russia or China, but the United States. Over half of Canadians now see the U.S. as a “major risk.” They’re not holding press conferences about it, but they’re shifting defense priorities, rethinking alliances, and buying drones from Ukraine instead of America. They’re bracing for the next tantrum from the neighbor who can’t get its house in order.

And it’s not just governments moving on. American tourists abroad are learning to hush their voices, ditch the Yankees hats, and prepare pre-scripted apologies for our foreign policy failures when asked, hoping they can still buy a coffee without a side of side-eye. It turns out empire decline isn’t just a headline; it’s the creeping embarrassment you feel when you step off the plane and realize the welcome mat has been pulled back.

At home, we’ve got Elon Musk’s Grok AI parroting Nazi conspiracy theories days after he bragged about scrubbing it of “wokeness.” Mission accomplished, Elon. You wanted less “woke,” you got more fascist. Our technology reflects our politics: dumb, angry, and unmoderated.

And as Adam Schiff revealed, Trump’s Justice Department has now hired a January 6th rioter caught on tape screaming “Kill him! Kill him!” while insurrectionists attacked police officers. That man, Jared Wise, was facing felony charges before Trump pardoned him, and now he’s working at the DOJ under a group ironically named the “weaponization working group.” You can’t make this up.

Meanwhile, the FBI is being purged of career agents who prosecuted January 6th cases, replaced by loyalists, while Trump’s DOJ shifts resources from fighting child trafficking and drug cartels to rounding up grocery workers and farmhands in “indiscriminate raids.” And at DHS, a 22-year-old Trump campaign intern now heads the counterterrorism unit, apparently qualified by nothing more than loyalty and a willingness to nod vigorously at everything Trump says.

This is where we are: a world quietly moving on while we shout at clouds, elect conmen, and dismantle the institutions that once made us credible on the world stage.

And yet, Al Gore reminds us that solar power is still expanding, EV sales are climbing, and clean energy continues to grow even as fossil fuel giants and their political puppets pretend it’s not happening. It’s a glimmer of hope, a reminder that some forms of progress persist even while America unravels.

I will not lie: the fever hasn’t helped my mood this week, but watching America’s leaders posture while the world shrugs and moves on hasn’t either. The issue isn’t if the world will leave us behind. The question is whether we’ll notice or care before American leadership fades away completely.

I’ll be back tomorrow, hopefully with fewer chills, to continue tracking the decline, the resistance, and the quiet revolution happening everywhere except where it’s needed most.

Because the world will keep moving on, with or without us.