By picking trade fights with half the planet, US President Donald Trump seems determined to make “America Great” — on everyone’s nerves. From imposing tariffs on India, Brazil, and China to making off-the-cuff diplomatic pronouncements that offend allies and embolden adversaries, Trump is steering the United States into dangerous, uncharted waters. His erratic behaviour is no longer just an international concern; it’s causing tremors within Washington’s own political and economic circles, raising whispers of impeachment or even a revolt within his party before the next presidential poll cycle.
The latest blow to Trump’s economic bravado came from his backyard. A Federal Court in the US has signalled it might stall or even overturn portions of his tariff war, citing constitutional overreach and the economic damage it could cause to American industries and consumers. This judicial intervention could be the first institutional check on a presidency that has too often treated governance as an extension of personal branding.
Trump’s sudden fixation on India is puzzling, even by his standards. Was it merely retaliation for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s polite but firm refusal to accept his offer to “mediate” after the Pahalgam terror massacre? Or is it rooted in something more obscure — perhaps intelligence reports of an Indian missile strike on suspected Pakistani nuclear assets near Nur Khan Airbase at Khairana Hills? Some diplomatic observers even whisper about his unease over India’s quiet crackdown on shady cryptocurrency networks — a realm where several international political players, allegedly including some of Trump’s associates, have discreet financial interests.
Meanwhile, Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh confirmed that five Pakistani fighter jets were brought down during Operation Sindhoor, a four-day conflict following the Pahalgam attack. “Enemy fighter jets were taken down by the S-400 anti-air missile system,” he reiterated, also releasing video evidence of Indian missile strikes deep inside enemy territory. It may be recalled that the US President had previously spoken about this incident, but without disclosing whose aircraft were involved. The Indian Air Chief has now effectively called the US President’s bluff, revealing that the downed jets included American-made F-35s in Pakistan’s possession. Similarly, Chinese-supplied radars to Pakistan proved incapable of preventing India from striking at will.
What’s clear is that Trump’s narrative — claiming he single-handedly “stopped the war” between India and Pakistan — was publicly dismissed by New Delhi. That bruised ego appears to have morphed into economic hostility. Within days, Washington slapped a 50% tariff on Indian goods, with threats of more to come. Modi’s response was classic new-age Bharat diplomacy: measured defiance. He declared he would “pay a personal price” to shield Indian farmers, fishermen, and small industries from unfair foreign trade practices.
While Trump rattled sabres from Washington, India was quietly redrawing the strategic map. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval’s last week’s visit to Moscow secured not only Vladimir Putin’s agreement to visit India later this year but also deeper defence and economic cooperation. Modi’s upcoming trip to Beijing for the SCO summit — warmly welcomed by Xi Jinping — signals an emerging bloc that could redefine Asian, and perhaps global, power dynamics.
Imagine a Russia-India-China (RIC) understanding on trade, technology, and energy. Add in smaller but strategically placed economies — from Southeast Asia to Africa — aligning against US economic coercion, and Washington’s leverage begins to fray. Trump’s tariffs, meant to display strength, could end up accelerating the very multipolar order US strategists have long feared.
Complicating matters further is Pakistan’s sudden burst of diplomacy. Army Chief Gen. Asim Munir’s proposed second trip to Washington in just two months has raised eyebrows. Is it merely about military aid and counterterrorism coordination? Or is Washington playing its old South Asia balancing game — dangling security guarantees to Islamabad while pressuring New Delhi on trade? Some in the Indian security establishment suspect that Trump, faced with mounting global isolation, is seeking to reinsert Pakistan into US strategic calculations, using it as a bargaining chip against India and even China.
Meanwhile, economists in the US are already sounding alarms. Tariffs are taxes, and American consumers, not foreign exporters, often pay them. Trump’s war on imports from India, China, Brazil, and others risks inflating prices, disrupting supply chains, and hitting small and medium-sized US businesses that depend on competitively priced inputs. For a country already flirting with economic slowdown, this could be the self-inflicted wound that turns a mild recession into a deep slump.
If the Federal Reserve is forced to cut rates to offset tariff damage, the US dollar could weaken, spurring capital flight and rattling financial markets. Manufacturing job gains that Trump boasts about could evaporate in months. And with unemployment ticking upward, voter patience could wear thin just as the 2026 mid-term elections loom.
Trump’s upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin could have been an opportunity for genuine diplomacy. Instead, his public dismissal of the need for Putin to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is yet another self-inflicted diplomatic injury. Such statements undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty and cast the US as a power that decides the fate of smaller nations without their consent. For a country that claims to champion democracy and self-determination, this is more than just bad optics — it’s a credibility crisis.
Back home, Trump’s unpredictability is starting to exhaust even his allies. Republican leaders, long willing to overlook his excesses for policy wins, are increasingly worried about the political cost of defending him amid trade disruptions, foreign policy blunders, and erratic decision-making. If the economy sours and the court battles over tariffs drag on, the whispers about “finding another nominee” for the next election may turn into open calls for change.
History shows that empires rarely fall from external pressure alone; they collapse when arrogance blinds leaders to shifting realities. Today, a coalition of emerging powers — some accidental, others deliberate — is forming to resist US economic and strategic overreach. Trump’s trade wars, diplomatic gaffes, and personal vendettas may be the accelerants that turn this resistance into a durable alternative to American hegemony.
In trying to make America “great” on his terms, Trump may instead be hastening the end of the very dominance he claims to defend.
