For a bunch of America First isolationists, Donald Trump and his merry band of busybodies sure seem to enjoy interfering in the independence and sovereignty of other countries.
Not in Ukraine, mind you. The ally who needs us most is experiencing what it’s like to be abandoned by the United States, both on the battlefield and in its struggle for survival as Russia presses an unprovoked invasion.
But in other places where Trump has no business offering an opinion, much less throwing his lumbering weight around, it’s full steam ahead:
Trump pours contempt on Canada, our top trading partner and NATO ally, which he says should become “the 51st state.” Mexico, our second-largest trading partner, contends with his constant tariff threats. Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, another NATO ally, should come under U.S. control. We’re threatening to retake the Panama Canal, which might provoke regional war. Tiny El Salvador has become our outsourced concentration camp for suspected (not convicted) violent immigrants.
In Europe, meanwhile, far-right forces in Germany, Hungary, France, Italy and elsewhere enjoy enthusiastic verbal support from Trump’s chief America First ideologue, JD Vance, and his all-purpose bomb thrower, Elon Musk.
‘Liberation Day’
Doesn’t sound much like isolationism, does it? More like a heapin’ helpin’ of old-school interventionism and imperialism — with a generous side order of destructive economic tariffs, reminiscent of the Smoot-Hawley tariffs of 1930, which helped bring on the Great Depression.
April 2 is Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day,” when he vows to impose an even more extensive round of tariffs on our trading partners. These tariffs likely will “liberate” us from affordable prices for a wide range of goods and start a global trade war — along with the stagflation and recession many American economists predict will begin later this year. Happy April Fool’s Day; the joke’s on us.
“Liberation Day,” indeed.
“Trump never misses an opportunity to pervert slogans loaded with historical baggage.”
Oh, the irony. That term is usually associated with the liberation of France, Italy and other European countries from the Nazis and the Fascists in World War II. Trump never misses an opportunity to pervert slogans loaded with historical baggage (“Make America Great Again,” “enemies of the people”) for his own uses.
Speaking of France, the U.S. Embassy there sent dozens of French companies a letter in late March. It announced the Trump administration’s campaign to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion policies in American businesses also would apply to international firms doing business with the U.S. government.
“If you do not agree to sign this document, we would appreciate it if you could provide detailed reasons, which we will forward to our legal services,” said the letter, which gave recipients a five-day deadline to sign a form indicating compliance. The form states that companies certify “they do not operate any programs promoting DEI.”
Can you say “cultural imperialism”?
America used to be known for promoting the values of democracy and freedom. Now we’re spreading inequality and exclusion — and threatening retaliation if we’re not heeded.
Full disclosure: Call me a privileged, old white guy, but I’m not a big fan of DEI programs as applied in American businesses and institutions — especially universities. Too often, they have brought top-heavy administrative departments, staffed by cultural commissars looking for any words or actions that even hint of disagreement with ever-changing definitions of diversity and inclusion. That’s a recipe for Orwellian thought control on college campuses, which are supposed to be bastions of free inquiry and debate.
But MAGA World’s hysterical (and often openly racist) reaction against DEI — and “wokeism” in general — has become yet another hot button in the culture wars, cynically manipulated by Trump and his minions to tip elections and divide the nation.
“Too many spineless institutional leaders are submitting to his threats, fearing loss of government funding.”
Trump is now using the anti-DEI cudgel to intimidate, undermine and hijack American cultural institutions of all kinds. Shamefully, too many spineless institutional leaders are submitting to his threats, fearing loss of government funding.
The DEI inquisition
The DEI Inquisition won’t wash in France, however — or in Belgium, Italy and Spain, where similar U.S. threats have been received.
“American interference in the inclusion policies of French companies — along with threats of unjustified tariffs — is unacceptable,” the French trade ministry said in an official response to the U.S. demand. France and Europe, it promised, will defend “the companies, their consumers, but also their values.”
Aurore Berge, France’s minister of gender equality, called the U.S. letter “an attempt to impose a diktat on our businesses. … It is out of the question that we will prevent our businesses from promoting additional social progress (and) social rights.”
Belgian responses were even more pointed:
“We have no lessons to learn from the boss of America,” said Jan Jambon, Belgium’s deputy prime minister.
Maxime Prevot, the Belgian foreign minister, said the nation “would not take a single step backwards.”
The minister of equal opportunities, Rob Beenders, added that companies embracing diversity “benefit from more creativity, innovation and a better connection with their customers.”
‘Greatest test since 1945’
Will America’s relationship with Europe recover from Trump, who seeks not only the end of the military-political alliance that has protected global stability since World War II, but the end of the commitment to democracy and freedom we have shared? Maybe. But global threat analyst Ian Bremmer, head of the Eurasia Group, isn’t optimistic.
“No American ally faces a ruder awakening than Europe.”
“No American ally faces a ruder awakening than Europe, whose relationship with the United States is now fundamentally damaged,” Bremmer writes. “Most U.S. allies have no choice but to absorb Trump demands and hope for a reset after he’s gone. But Europe is different. It possesses both the collective heft to resist Trump’s demands and the existential imperative to do so.”
First, Bremmer says, Europe has the trading power and market size to punch back against Trump tariffs. Second, Trump’s budding alliance with Putin’s Russia — and potential successor JD Vance’s obvious contempt for our European allies, mostly recently expressed in the leaked Signal chat — directly threaten European security.
“Which brings us to the third and final driver of the definitive U.S.-Europe break: common values … or lack thereof,” Bremmer concludes. “From free trade and collective security to territorial integrity and the rule of law, Europe’s foundational principles are now anathema to Trump’s America. …
“After years of complacency, European leaders seem to have finally gotten the message that the United States under Trump is not just an unreliable friend but an actively hostile power. They understand they need to drastically increase Europe’s sovereign military, technological and economic capabilities — not just to survive without America but also to defend their borders, economies and democracies against it. Whether they can muster the political mettle to act on this realization, however, is Europe’s greatest test since 1945.”
That’s not an overstatement. In 2025, eight decades after America helped save Europe from the abyss of tyranny, it’s reality.
Erich Bridges
Erich Bridges, a Baptist journalist for more than 40 years, has covered international stories and trends in many countries. He lives in Richmond, Va.
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