# Trump's America: Strong Against Allies, Soft on Autocrats Canonical URL: https://themodernhermit.blog/trumps-america-strong-against-allies-soft-on-autocrats/ Published: 2026-10-30T04:13:23+00:00 Updated: 2026-10-30T04:17:27+00:00 ## Lede America's president has found a remarkable way to project strength: pick fights with allies, underestimate adversaries and leave ordinary people paying for the performance. ## Hermit Off Script I never imagined I would see the United States reach a point where its own president makes authoritarian leaders look like people he would rather do business with, while democratic allies are treated as annoying relatives who have overstayed their welcome. Of course, America has supported dictators before. History isn't quite that innocent. But there was at least a public pretence that democracy, freedom and international law mattered. Now I sometimes wonder whether those principles have become optional extras, available only to countries that agree to flatter the man in the White House. First things first. It takes a special kind of political recklessness to launch a war against an authoritarian regime without properly accounting for the other authoritarian powers standing behind it. Iran is hardly a model of justice or human rights, and nobody needs to defend its rulers to question the wisdom of attacking them. But Russia and China have their own interests, and neither wants America to enjoy an easy victory. According to Reuters, US intelligence assessments indicate that both countries have supplied military assistance to Iran, including satellite imagery and weapons components. Yet Trump publicly dismissed the idea that they were helping. Wonderful. The intelligence services raise the alarm, and the president apparently prefers his own instincts. Perhaps the next national security briefing should come with applause and a studio audience. And that's the trouble with electing a television showman to run a superpower. Trump was entertaining on television because spectacle sells. Money, arrogance, extravagant promises and the fantasy that anybody can become rich if they work hard enough. I understand the attraction. Most ordinary people spend their lives working, paying bills and wondering why success always seems to belong to somebody else. Then along comes a billionaire who tells them that everything is possible. Apparently, the first step towards prosperity is making another billionaire more powerful. Meanwhile, those same ordinary people are expected to keep working, producing, consuming and paying taxes until robots and artificial intelligence can do more of their jobs. I can't help wondering what happens afterwards. If the economy eventually needs fewer workers, will the people who built that economy still matter? Or will they become inconvenient expenses on a billionaire's spreadsheet, useful to politicians only when elections come around? That's speculation, of course, but it is a question worth asking before the machines arrive with their resignation letters. Then there is Ukraine. For me, this is where the whole performance becomes particularly ugly. Russia invaded its neighbour, yet the American president keeps applying [pressure to the country defending itself](https://themodernhermit.blog/trumps-24-hour-peace-plan-fast-surrender-ukraine-civil-war-rehearsal/). [Ukraine is expected to compromise](https://themodernhermit.blog/two-bullies-ukraine-peace-plan/), while Moscow is offered opportunities to negotiate. And as if that weren't enough, traditional allies get threats, insults, lectures and the occasional joke that sounds suspiciously like a warning. And just when I thought the diplomatic circus couldn't get any more ridiculous, Trump decided to call Norway a "shit house country" because he didn't receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Yes, Norway. One of the wealthiest countries in the world, apparently transformed into a terrible place overnight because somebody failed to hand him a medal. He even declared that he didn't want Norwegian immigrants anymore. I suppose that's what international diplomacy has become: flatter the president, give him a prize, or watch your entire country get insulted at a political rally. And the funniest part? The Norwegian Nobel Committee is independent of the Norwegian government. Imagine insulting an entire nation because an independent committee didn't give you a prize for peace. Perhaps somebody should invent a Nobel Prize for International Tantrums. At least that one would have a clear candidate. The message seems to be that everyone must bow politely before the most powerful country on Earth, regardless of whether its president is behaving like a responsible leader or a disgruntled landlord. I don't think every American supports this, and I certainly don't think the United States has suddenly become a nation of villains. But I do think a country's institutions can be damaged by a leader who mistakes personal loyalty for national interest. Corruption, conflicts of interest and policies favouring the wealthy deserve scrutiny, not automatic applause. And when Elon Musk's extraordinary wealth becomes another symbol of the billionaire economy, the prospect of somebody becoming the world's first trillionaire begins to sound less like human progress and more like an accounting error that nobody wants to correct. The American midterm elections on 3 November will be another test, although they cannot remove a president by themselves. I wonder whether voters will restrain this political experiment or give it more room to continue. And even if Trump eventually leaves office peacefully, how much trust will remain between America and the allies it spent decades cultivating? Rebuilding that trust could take longer than destroying it. All this before winter has properly arrived. I reckon humanity could be heading into a particularly harsh and very long one. Not because the weather will necessarily be worse, but because the political climate already feels freezing. America once promised to defend the free world. Now the free world is wondering whether it needs defending from America's president. ***P.S.** I can only hope that one day Trump's administration will be held accountable for any wrongdoing committed during its time in power. That independent investigations will bring hidden dealings, conflicts of interest and any corruption into the light, however powerful or wealthy those involved may be. And that justice will prevail, not through revenge or political persecution, but through evidence, the rule of law and genuine accountability. Because no president, billionaire or politician should be above the law, however much they might wish otherwise.* ***P.P.S.** I can only hope that the coming elections will mark the beginning of the end of this political nightmare, restoring some sanity, accountability and respect for democracy. Because somewhere along the way, the American Dream became the American Nightmare. And the rest of the world is being forced to watch it unfold, whether we bought a ticket or not.* ## What does not make sense - A president wages war against Iran while publicly questioning intelligence reports that Russia and China are helping Iran's military efforts. - Washington expects Ukraine to negotiate with Russia while criticism of Ukrainian attacks risks weakening Kyiv's ability to defend itself. - NATO allies are expected to demonstrate loyalty while American leadership increasingly treats alliances as transactions. - A billionaire president presents himself as the champion of working people while the concentration of wealth and political influence among billionaires demands greater scrutiny. - Artificial intelligence is sold as the next great leap in productivity, but the people whose jobs might disappear have no guarantee of sharing the benefits. - A country that prides itself on checks and balances risks treating personal loyalty to its president as a test of patriotism. - The administration promises strength and stability while the Iran conflict has already consumed billions of dollars and created new security threats. ## Sense check / The numbers 1. **28 February 2026:** The United States and Israel began military operations against Iran, targeting nuclear and missile infrastructure and Iranian leadership. Iran retaliated against US facilities and neighbouring states. The conflict did not produce a durable peace. \[House of Commons Library\] \[CRS\] 1. **$38 billion:** The Congressional Budget Office estimated that US military operations against Iran had cost this amount by 1 August 2026, according to a Congressional Research Service report updated in September. That is a direct military cost estimate, not a complete accounting of economic damage or future obligations. \[CRS\] 1. **13 October 2026:** Reuters reported that two people briefed on US intelligence assessments said Russia and China had provided Iran with satellite imagery for targeting and weapons components. Trump publicly rejected the suggestion that they were helping Iran. The intelligence account is reported information, not independently published evidence of every alleged transfer. \[Reuters\] 1. **17 October 2026:** Reuters reported a worsening dispute between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, including tensions over Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy facilities and US policy towards Moscow. This demonstrates serious friction between Washington and Kyiv, although it does not establish that the United States has formally allied itself with Russia. \[Reuters\] 1. **3 November 2026:** The United States is due to hold its midterm congressional elections. All 435 House seats and roughly one-third of the Senate seats are in the regular election cycle. The result could constrain Trump's agenda, but it will not itself determine whether he remains president. \[US Senate\] \[US House\] --- ## The sketch Scene 1: **The intelligence briefing** *An American president silhouette sits at an enormous desk. Two intelligence officers hold a report marked "Russia and China". A television camera points towards the president.* Dialogue: Officer: "They're helping Iran." President: "I prefer my instincts." Camera: "Excellent television." Scene 2: **The alliance meeting** *The same president stands at a negotiating table. A small Ukrainian representative holds a damaged shield. A Russian leader's silhouette sits comfortably in an armchair.* Dialogue: Ukraine: "We were invaded." President: "Try compromising." Russia: "More coffee, please." Scene 3: **The future workforce** *The president sits beside a billionaire on a raised platform. Robots operate machines below while human workers wait outside a locked factory gate.* Dialogue: Worker: "What about our jobs?" Billionaire: "Productivity is soaring." President: "Remember to vote." --- ![Three comic panels show a president receiving an intelligence briefing, meeting Ukrainian and Russian representatives, and standing beside a billionaire above a robot-operated factory.](https://themodernhermit.blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/themodernhermit-trumps-america-strong-against-allies-soft-on-autocrats-sketch-1300x475-1-1024x374.jpg) Intelligence dismissed, allies pressured and workers replaced. The performance continues. --- ## What to watch, not the show - **Iran and escalation:** Whether renewed strikes, shipping disruptions and failed negotiations turn a costly conflict into an even wider regional war. - **Russia and China:** Whether their reported assistance to Iran grows, and whether US diplomacy imposes meaningful consequences. - **Ukraine's negotiating position:** Whether Washington pressures Moscow to end its invasion or pressures Kyiv to accept terms that reward aggression. - **Allied trust:** Whether European and Asian allies begin making permanent security arrangements that depend less on American guarantees. - **Billionaire influence:** Whether political access, government contracts, regulatory decisions and tax policy continue favouring concentrated private wealth. - **AI and labour:** Who owns the productivity gains, who loses employment and whether displaced workers receive meaningful protection. - **The midterms:** Whether Congress gains the political will to scrutinise executive decisions, war powers and conflicts of interest. - **The long-term damage:** Whether the next administration can restore confidence in American commitments, even if it chooses to do so. ## The Hermit take A superpower that humiliates its friends and misjudges its adversaries isn't demonstrating strength. It's advertising poor judgement. The greatest danger may be discovering how much damage a democracy can tolerate before its institutions stop protecting it. ## Keep or toss ***Toss*.** Toss the personality cult, transactional alliances, billionaire favouritism and reckless military decisions. Keep democratic accountability, independent institutions, diplomacy and the principle that powerful countries should answer for their actions. ## Sources - House of Commons Library, Iran in 2026: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-11075/ - Congressional Research Service, US Conflict with Iran: https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R48887.html - Congressional Research Service, US military operations against Iran: https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/IN12665.html - Reuters, Russia and China reportedly assisting Iran, 13 October 2026: https://www.reuters.com/world/china/trump-says-he-does-not-believe-china-russia-are-helping-iran-at-all-2026-10-13/ - Reuters, Trump-Zelenskyy dispute, 17 October 2026: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/trump-zelenskiy-rift-threatens-vital-support-kyiv-2026-10-17/ - Reuters Breakingviews, US allies and the midterm elections: https://www.breakingviews.com/40925ca4af2b/columns/big-view/how-us-allies-can-win-trump-mid-term-defeat-2026-10-19/ - Council on Foreign Relations, Conflict with Iran: https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/confrontation-between-united-states-and-iran - US Senate, Senators and elections: https://www.senate.gov/senators/ - US House, Elections information: https://www.house.gov/ - Reuters, 26 October 2026 - Trump insults Norway over Nobel Peace Prize: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-adds-norway-vulgar-list-countries-citing-nobel-snub-2026-10-26/ - US Constitution, Article II, Section 4 - Impeachment and accountability: https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-2/section-4/ - US Constitution, Article I, Section 3, Clause 7 - Criminal accountability following impeachment: https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-1/section-3/clause-7/