Trump 2.0 has gone Bonkers- disrupting the entire world order over the last 12 months. The abduction of the Venezuelan President Maduro by US forces reeks of the Mob Boss underworld. His threat to annex Greenland and walk out of NATO has alienated long-term Western Allies. His mocking of Canada & its PM has destroyed decades of a mutually beneficial neighborly brotherhood. His disparaging remarks to the Holy Pope have angered millions and undermined his own Evangelical base. His bullying with tariffs and sanctions are hurting US consumers the most; other nations are resetting their trade plans through treaty deals with new partners, trade blocks, some major Free Trade Agreements and even through de-dollarization agreements. 70 days into the Iran war and everybody is a loser; the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and the oil and gas shortage has upended economies especially in Asia.
Trump himself has become a laughingstock across the world. Nicknames like ‘Mango Mussolini’, ‘The Nod-father’, ‘Don the Con’ are trending whilst memes like ‘Serial Liar’, ‘The Boy who cried Assassination’, TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out), NACHO (Not a chance Hormuz Opens) are going viral. But inadvertently, the Supreme Leader of the USA has exposed the grim faultlines within his own country. How have the High and Mighty Fallen!!!
Let it be acknowledged that the USA remains the biggest economy in the world. The troubling fact is that its national debt of $ 31.27 trillion has overtaken its GDP of $ 31.22 trillion. It remains the cutting-edge leader in Hi-Tech & AI; also holds the pole position in Big Pharma, Energy and Financial Services. The roster of the most-valued firms reads like NVIDIA, Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, META, Berkshire Hathaway, Tesla, Walmart, United Health Group… The US has also been the Soft Power Narrative Controller through Disney Fims, Marvel Cinematic Universe and Blockbusters like ‘The Godfather’, ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘Top Gun Maverick’… Music legends like Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and Britney Spears developed massive cult followings worldwide. We owe it to Hollywood for making dance forms like Jazz, Tap and Urban Hip-Hop so contagiously popular. But now, K-Pop groups are topping the charts helped on by Spotify, YouTube and world tours; Japanese Anime is breaking down cultural barriers; Chinese drama and Indian films & song and dance are capturing the imagination of a global audience. Michael Jordan and Chicago Bulls deserve the credit for taking basketball from an American sport to a global craze. But this does not mean that the NFL and the Super Bowl represent the world championship of football. The real thing, the world’s most popular sport -football or soccer- will kick-off at the FIFA World Cup in June this year across the USA, Canada & Mexico.
But having doffed our cap to the USA, the world order and perspective is rapidly changing. The Statue of Liberty no longer stands tall. The bumper stickers of ‘Land of the Free & the Brave’ do not ring true. Leader of the Free World??!! Really?!
Let’s start with the Iran War. This unnecessary war was created to divert attention from the Epstein Scandal which threatened to engulf The White House. Some analysts’ take is that this panic was tapped into by Bibi Netanyahu and then a silent nod from MBS sparked the war; they seriously underestimated the Iranian missile stockpile and drone weaponry and least expected Iran to rain missiles on Saudi Arabia, Qatar & Dubai. Please watch the satirical comedy ‘Wag the Dog’ where the President’s men create a war to take the heat of a domestic sex-scandal. Yes, Jeffrey Epstein sex-offender, trafficker and pedophile who was Trump’s close buddy for many years. Donald’s name pops up thousands of times in the Epstein documents. Epstein died in prison in August 2019 under suspicious circumstances (ruled as suicide) during Trump’s first term. In his second term his personal lawyer and Deputy Attorney General has met convicted co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell following which she has been transferred from a federal prison in Florida to a minimum-security prison in Texas. The depraved Epstein’s’ partner in crime has even asked for a Presidential pardon.
War mongering has been a dark American truth. In a recent Truth Social post Trump bragged about how he would finish Iran in 24 hours with the US troops taking Cuba on the way back. Back in 1953, the CIA & MI6 (British Intelligence) overthrew the popular democratically elected leader of Iran, Mohammad Mosaddegh as he had nationalized the Anglo-Iran Oil Company in 1951. The monarch Mohammad Reza Pahlavi took over. In 1954, another democratically elected Guatemala President Arbenz was ousted to protect the profits of United Fruit Company, at risk, because of land reforms. In 1973 popular Chilean leader Salvadore Allende was replaced by a brutal military dictator, Augusto Pinochet. Same playbook played over in Congo, Brazil, Indonesia. In 2003, President Bush Jr started the 8-year Iraq war stating that Saddam Hussein had WMD’s (Weapons of Mass Destruction). The despot was killed but no WMDs were found. The people of Iraq paid a heavy price. Cut to August 2024. Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina flees the country to escape a student led uprising. Again, the US Deep State in action. This scenario had been predicted by a Russian Foreign Affairs spokesperson around 10 months earlier. The US wanted control over the St Martin’s island in the Bay of Bengal. The Bangladeshi leader said No. Mohammad Yunus a close acolyte of Clinton and George Soros was installed as interim leader. The Nobel Peace prize winner was soon seen sharing the stage at a Clinton Foundation event in the US with 4 of the so-called student leaders. On October 2nd, 2024, his esteemed guest at Dhaka was none other than Alec Soros, heir of George Soros.
On Truth Social Trump threatened that ‘a whole civilization will die tonight never to be brought back again.’ A war crime by itself. The US Air Force killed 160-175 primary school girls in a deadly air-strike in Iran. A war crime. But let’s go back to the 1963-1973 period when the USA dropped more bombs on Vietnam & Cambodia than in the entire Second World War. Mass genocide. Plus, the brutal use of napalm – the scorched earth policy- and poisoning of rivers which killed lakhs of common-people and livestock. No talk about war crimes- no talk of even human rights violations. In the 1980’s the USA funded and armed the Taliban (later a designated terror group); they were trained and nurtured by its vassal state Pakistan to drive out the Russian troops from Afghanistan. Following the 9/11 attack US troops occupied the country for 20 years only to exit with their tails between their legs as the Taliban returned. 100,000 dead and $ 90 billion in military assistance. Also, it was not exactly surprising to learn that the Most Wanted terrorist Osama Bin Laden, taken out by US Seals in May 2011, had been safely living for many years in a separate house, next to the Pakistan Military Centre at Abbottabad.
The USA is a military industrial empire. It’s 2026 Defense Budget is a whopping $1.5 trillion focused on AI, drone technology and military dominance. This is up from the 2025 defense expenditure of $ 954 billion- more than the next 6 countries combined. This is to primarily fund the more than 800 military bases it has across 75+ countries. Iran missiles were launched to hit such bases in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Dubai. It’s also to fund regime change, geopolitical control and access to resources.
Contrast India. India has been the leading contributor to UN Peace Keeping missions. Since 1953, more than 200,000 troops plus medical servicemen have been to 49+ hotspots across the world. Around 160 Indian army personnel have made the supreme sacrifice for the cause of peace.
The USA is not the bastion of democracy. Thomas Jefferson, a founding father and the author of the Declaration of Independence owned 600 slaves. He lived a lavish life and was in heavy debt and as the story goes, he could not free his slaves as they were mortgaged. In the 2016 Presidential elections, Hillary Clinton won the popular votes by over 2.8 million. She still lost to Trump who secured 304 electoral college votes to her 227. Then, there is the common practice of gerrymandering- of carving up districts and constituencies -which enables politicians to choose their voters instead of the voters choosing their representatives. There are also voter suppression laws to target communities like Blacks and Hispanics who are less likely to vote for those in power. It’s also a known fact that a handful of corporate billionaires and Wall Street firms write the Government policies; politicians respond to donors and lobbyists and not to their constituents.
The USA is a deeply divided country. Imagine a corrupt, racist, incompetent and narcissist Trump being elected as President for 2 terms. Especially after inciting a riot on the Capitol where the mob screamed ‘Hang Mike Pence’ (Trump’s VP). A cult leader who has fooled or manipulated a sizable portion of the populace over the years with influential sections of the media and big business being complicit. Am searching for the colorful Trumpian word to describe this ‘State of the Nation.’
Let’s talk about the rigged SCOTUS (Supreme Court). 3 of the Judges (all life-time appointees) were appointed by Trump at the behest of his ultra conservative and evangelical base. In 2022, the Court overturned the 1973 Roe vs Wade judgement ruling that the right to abortion is not protected by the Constitution allowing States to independently regulate or prohibit the procedure. You can guess what the Red or Republican States have done. In 2008, SCOTUS affirmed that the Second Amendment protected individual rights to possess firearms, unconnected with services in a militia, specifically for lawful purposes like self-defense within a home. The 1791 Second Amendment had clearly restricted’ the right to a well-regulated militia being necessary for the security of a free State.’
Is the US still the Wild West or is it the powerful gun lobby NRA (National Rifle Association) calling the shots. Thus, we have more than 433 million firearms including assault weapons- more than the population of the country. Why is it needed in a country with the most heavily funded and armed police forces in the world? In 2026 itself, there have been 131 mass shootings. And all we have are puffed -up TV anchors saying, ‘that this is not who we are’ and ‘that our thoughts and prayers are with the deceased and their families.’ The US also holds the record for the highest incarceration rates- more prisoners per capita than even China or North Korea.
President Reagen’s deregulation doctrine of the 1980’s to drastically reduce government oversight led to the global financial meltdown of 2008. It grossly increased income inequality; the top 1% control 30% of US wealth and 50% have only 2.5% of the cake. Unbridled Capitalism. ‘Greed is Good’ as Gordon Gekko says in the movie ‘Wall Street’. In developed Western countries, Universal Health Care, subsidized and free higher education and a robust public transport system are the norm. But for the rigidly binary US mindset this is Commie-Leftist mentality. So, we have a student debt at a staggering $1.7 trillion. The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) covers around 25 million Americans whilst another 27-30 million have no health insurance. Plus, the private health care system is the most expensive in the world.
For those enamored by the hallowed Ivy League Colleges take a closer look. From 2012 to 2024 Harvard has received gifts and donations of over $ 1 billion from Chinese sources. Have you heard any protests about the brutal persecution of a million Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang province of China and about the demolition of thousands of mosques. A Deafening Silence! Show me the Money. The Revolving Door policy between Wall Street, the US Government and top Academia have been a recurrent feature in the Treasury Department, Economic Advisory Roles and Regulatory Agencies. MONEY. POWER. The much-quoted phrase from ‘Hamlet’ – ‘there is something rotten in the state of Denmark’ does not even describe the venality in US power circles. So, we have Larry Summers- Treasury Secretary, Director of the National Economic Council, President and Professor at Harvard being exposed for his close ties with Jeffrey Epstein. Alan Dershowitz, Harvard Law Professor was part of the legal team which defended Epstein in the 2008 non-prosecution agreement- pleading guilty for soliciting underage sex-but shielded from serious federal sex-trafficking charges and again was on the Trump defense team during his impeachment proceedings successfully pitching Presidential immunity. Finally, billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates and his mysterious relationship with sex-offender Epstein. They met Thorbjorn Jagland in Strasbourg, France in March 2013. Jagland was the Nobel Peace Committee Chair from 2009-2015. Connect the dots.
It will take another 25-30 years for the USA to be reduced to just another major power in the comity of nations. It will remain the ‘land of opportunity’ for millions of aspirant people from all over the world. Americans have the cutting edge in Hi Tech and AI; the dollar remains the dominant currency (especially due to the petro-dollar masterstroke by Nixon and Kissinger in 1973); Wall Street remains the financial nerve-center and trillions of dollars have been invested in the US Stock market, Treasury Bonds and pension plans and properties from China, Japan to Russia, Saudi Arabia to even Finland.
But the decline has begun. The 100 years of the Imperial USA is coming to an end.
A Fistful of Salt 