Donald Trump is the great underminer. Trump’s rise to power and his years in public life have left deep scars on the foundations that once defined American greatness. His “America First” rhetoric, far from strengthening the nation’s industrial base, instead fractured supply chains, alienated trade partners, and eroded global trust in American reliability. Instead of investing in long-term innovation and skilled manufacturing, his administration prioritized political theater over substance—pursuing tariffs that hurt American farmers, automakers, and manufacturers more than they protected them. By politicizing economic policy and turning global cooperation into a zero-sum game, Trump weakened the very industries and alliances that built America’s postwar prosperity.

Just as damaging was his assault on the nation’s institutions—those quiet engines of democracy that make self-government possible. Trump’s repeated attacks on the judiciary, the press, the intelligence community, and even the peaceful transfer of power did not merely expose divisions; they deepened and legitimized them. His presidency taught millions to distrust fact, to reject science, and to view expertise as elitism. American universities and scientific institutions—once the envy of the world—found themselves under siege, facing budget cuts, disdain, and politicized hostility toward knowledge itself. The Trump era turned intellectual pursuit into a partisan battleground, where truth became negotiable and conspiracy took root.

The cost of this decay extends far beyond America’s borders. The nation’s soft power—its cultural, moral, and diplomatic influence—has waned under the weight of Trump’s bombast and isolationism. By undermining NATO, cozying up to autocrats, and treating diplomacy as a stage for personal grievance, Trump eroded decades of hard-won credibility. America, once seen as a model of stability and innovation, now appears divided, cynical, and inward-looking. No adversary could have done more to sabotage America’s standing than the man who claimed to make it great again. In the sweep of history, Trump may be remembered less as a leader who put America first, and more as the one who taught it how easily greatness can be undone.

Without question, Trump has done more to undermine American influence, its instututions, its industry, its scientific prowess, its educational institution, its foreign policy, its rule of law, and so forth. Worse than Stalin, Mussolini, Ben Laden, the Ayatollah, Ho Chi Minh, the Kaiser, George III, Santa Anna, Mao, or Kim Il Sung. The great American Quisling is destroying the rule of law, as he is presently destroying the White House.