To the Journal editor:

America has always been a beacon of hope for the world, known for its openness, tolerance, love of freedom, religious pluralism and global stability. But under President Trump, we have become a nation that shuns immigrants, destroys alliances, embraces protectionism and has become an undependable ally.

You can trash talk your friends for only so long. Forgotten are the 80 years of shared sacrifice with our allies in facing down common enemies like the Soviet Union. Now, our closest allies increasingly see us as a global threat (Politico).

This belligerence toward the world has created an opening for China. They are boxing us out of world trade and global affairs. Our former allies have raced to create large, high profile trade pacts and large-scale trade blocs that deliberately exclude the United States. At least 10 major trade agreements by the European Community and China have moved beyond the U.S. (ChatGPT).

The Administration’s “America First” national defense strategy is a dash to isolationism. It cedes European influence to Russia, Asian domination to China and will restrict our influence to the Western Hemisphere – notwithstanding that our financial, commercial, and military interest span the globe.

The populist culture has been uniquely destructive. Nothing is more bizarre than the populists’ fixation on 19th century legacy industries.

Coal mining and steel making loom large in their imagination. They have cut off skilled immigration and research and development funding so necessary for 21st century technologies. Already, we have lost the lead to China in the future technologies of wind and solar, batteries and electric vehicles.

Tariffs, trade wars and market meddling have taken an economic toll as real GDP growth has decelerated to an expected 2.1 percent this year – from Biden’s 2.8 percent in his last year in office (BEA).

Interest rates and consumer inflation remain stubbornly high due to Trump’s Iran war, policy uncertainty and browbeating of the Federal Reserve Bank – hence Trump’s record low approval rating on the economy.

American farmers have been devastated by his trade war with China; many of his poor followers have lost Medicaid coverage and manufacturing jobs have been lost through his tariff-induced higher manufacturing costs. And yet his support among MAGA followers holds. This is not normal politics – vote your pocketbook issues – this is cult behavior.

Notwithstanding Trump’s tariff regime, the trade deficit did not decline last year and is expected to rise sharply this year. Tax cuts (skewed to the wealthy) and robust federal spending will push the fiscal deficit to nearly 7% of GDP this year – a non-recessionary, peacetime record. The national debt has surpassed $39 trillion and now exceeds the size of the U.S. economy.

As a result, foreigners are increasingly hesitant about holding U.S. debt: foreign central banks have reduced the percentage of dollar holdings in their international reserves and use of the dollar in foreign trade is steadily declining. Use of the euro and Chinese yuan in trade have increased gradually.

Trump is the president presiding over the demise of the U.S. dollar. This will keep our interest rates higher and depress foreign funding of our national debt.

Lincoln appealed to our “better angels,” while Trump summons the darkest motives in us. Trump has neither the disposition nor the inclination to tone down his destructive rhetoric. Happily, enough Americans have seen the harm this has caused and are turning away from the dark age of Trump.