It isn't a problem not to be in the lead of everything. With universal leadership comes the tendency to expect everyone to give you what you want, and then wrap it with a bow and suggest there's a grand principle at work. I think that Trump is partly disappointment that that isn't possible any more. The US is competing in a global marketplace, and doesn't always win.
But the US was mostly reliable and believed in things like freeish trade, democracy and the rule of law a while ago. And now it's just brutal, selfish and autocratic, (everyone knows what "America First!" means) though not beyond salvage if you have a free and fair election.
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