Many factors explain the demise of earlier civilizations, but not one collapsed as a result of deliberate decisions by a top political leader who wanders about destroying the pillars of his country’s greatness. Donald J, Trump, however, does so—endangering not only the United States but also U,S. allies and others previously inspired by America’s example.
The United States has long suffered from many of the challenges that brought down earlier political systems—from Uruk in Mesopotamia to Mayan Chichén Itza to the USSR. These problems included myopic leadership, rich-poor enmity, widespread corruption; racial and religious conflict, environmental abuse, overextension and unnecessary warring—all made worse by inflation and deficit spending.
Its geography and resources helped the USA survive challenges that destroyed other great powers. But now the country faces a crisis from within unlike any ever faced by others. The top political leader, backed by most of his party and by influential oligarchs, has chosen to destroy the foundations of national power and well-being—knowledge, health, multicultural harmony, high ideals, financial stability, soft power and alliances abroad.
Knowledge: Americans have led the world in science. They have won more than 40% of the Nobel prizes in science and the lion’s share (71!) of Nobels in economics. But now the president defunds research at universities, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, NASA, and the Environmental Protection Agency. Affiliates of a single university, Harvard, a major target of Trump animus, have won more Nobel Prizes any country,
Trump discourages the best and brightest of other countries from studying or teaching in the United States; he kills the Fulbright and other programs that help Americans and non-Americans learn from and with one another. Big Brother now demands to investigate the cell phones of would-be scholars!
Trump undermines education by favoring private schools over public, shutting the Department of Education, and ignoring de facto segregation. His zealots purge libraries of books and silence public media that depart from MAGA values. Trumpists do nothing to improve reading and math skills of America’s youth, consistently declining relative to other countries.
Health. Ignorant federal policies helped a million Americans die from Covid in Trump’s first term—a much higher per capita toll than in other developed countries. More ignorance in Trump 2.0 plus major cuts in health insurance will further degrade U,S. health. Life expectancy in the USA is lower than in Cuba as well as in Europe and the Asian rim. Infant and maternal mortality are much higher. Trump cuts research to fight cancer, Alzheimer’s, and other diseases and backs a non-scientist vaccine skeptic to run the Department of Health and Human Services even as a measles epidemic sweeps Texas,
High ideals: The premise of American politics has been that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Despite this lofty principle. Americans have often discriminated against one another, John F. Kennedy became the first president to call for affirmative action, in an executive order targeting racial bias in the hiring practices of government contractors. In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act banning employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.
After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, support grew for DEI—diversity, equity, and inclusion -in all realms. In 2023, however, the Supreme Court banned affirmative action in college admissions. The Trump administration now purges every reference to DEI in government—even photos of black aviator heroes in World War II.
Multicultural harmony: Unlike Russia, China, or North Korea, the United States has welcomed and benefitted from immigrants—first from Europe and then from every part of the world. Some built railways, sewed garments, picked vegetables, and cared for the infirm; others won Nobels and headed major businesses. Their sheer number and youth have saved the USA from the age imbalances that plague most advancing economies. But Trump is killing the geese that laid these golden eggs. His hooded ICE agents ignore every semblance of law and due process to push dark skinned people into hell holes in El Salvador and South Sudan.
Environmental well-being, Starting under President Richard Nixon, the United States laid the foundations for world leadership in green energy and politics. Al Gore won a Nobel Prize for his pioneering work in this regard. Trump 1.0 and 2.0 have reversed everything and made the USA a deadbeat.in coping with environmental dangers. China leads in making and selling green technologies, many invented in the USA.
Financial stability: Trump’s so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” now before the Senate joins a policy syndrome bound to deepen public debt as well as imperil living standards for most Americans. It cuts taxes for high earners and reduces benefits for the poor and working classes. History teaches that high tariffs raise prices and aggravate all other economic problems. Trump’s policies undercut the dollar’s key role in global commerce.
Trump proposes cutting $163 billion in non-defense spending–for education, health, and climate–and boosting military spending 13%–to over $1 trillion in a “skinny budget.” He commits to a costly Golden Dome that experts know can never stop a missile attack from offshore or outer space. The president orders a military parade on his birthday costing some $45 million plus damage to roads.
Soft power and transnational alliances: Starting with the Marshall Plan, the Fulbright Program, the Peace Corps, and Agency for International Development, the United States built a reservoir of good will that encouraged others to orient their policies to harmonize with U.S. policies. This font of soft power grew in tandem with creation of the largest and most durable alliance system in history. But Trump spits on the soft and hard power assets cultivated by Americans over the past 80 years.
Somehow the least popular and most destructive president in history is still what Peter Baker (New York Times, June 18) calls the “most consequential political force of modern times, rewriting all of the rules along the way.” Moving toward autocracy is profitable. Trump profits from foreign real estate deals, his cryptocurrency machinations. and accepting a palace-in-the- sky airplane as a personal gift—all in violation of the Constitution’s emoluments restrictions.
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Walter Clemens is Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Boston University and Associate, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University. He wrote The Republican War on America: Dangers of Trump and Trumpism (2023) and Blood Money: What Putin and Xi Jinping Owe Their Victims (2023)
