Why do you think Trump even before his inauguration is stroking a spat with so many countries and entire regions and even neighbours?
Here is what IMO might be behind the rhetoric. Trump wants to dismantle the current world structure. NATO, Dollar Reserve currency, Immigration are some that are prominent.
Why dismantle NATO?
The United States has been in 2 wars over the past 2 decades and IMO has spent all the ability to start or even participate in another war. The US population is fatigued of war and wants out of fighting useless wars all over the world. Obama’s election in 2008 was a mandate on this. Putin and the rest of the world know this and would like to take advantage of this vacuum. The US population has suffered a lot as a result of these wars and would like to get away from the Military Industrial Complex influences on the government. Trump again kept the war mongers and Military Industrial Complex lobby at bay in his first term. We saw them gaining some traction during Biden’s term and hence an overwhelming vote for Trump in 2024. The US population not only wants to stay out of wars and wants no part of global policing.
Why the US Dollar? Isn’t being a Reserve Currency an advantage?
There is no straight forward answer to this but Dollar being a reserve currency is hurting US populus more than it’s benefiting it at this point.
At this point the US middle class is feeling the squeeze from globalization. Again, people have voted against this in 2016 and this issue was at the core in 2024 elections. There is an overwhelming consensus against Corporations taking advantage of people by shipping jobs overseas and/or expecting people in a developed country to work as hard (by hard I mean longer) as in a third world country.
Why Immigration? Why now?
US, like any other developed country, is not producing enough babies. This is a natural phenomenon. The US is cashing in on its ability to grow its population by immigration. The US is still the shining country on the top of the hill where everyone wants to immigrate and establish a good life. Lots of the countries where there is a huge youth unemployment, and they are willing to work hard. IMO Trump would not deport illegals as much as everybody thinks. US would need labor force for this coming deglobalization.
Why not tackle budget deficits?
Because it serves his purpose. Also, it comes with the territory of being a reserve currency—the US has to run budget deficits.
So what am I inferring out of this?
Trump is a “weak dollar” president. He not only set this in motion in his first term. Case in point is stimulus pumped in during Covid crisis. By the end of his term he set the ball rolling in Inflation. He will have a snowball effect on this movement in this term.