Tigger-Happy and Torching Trust: How the US has Shot Itself In the Foot

Regardless of what happens next in Donald Trump’s global reality TV drama, one thing’s clear: America has torched the trust of its allies and trading partners, possibly for good. The era of American reliability is over.

Trump’s tariff tantrums - chopped and changed, not just with adversaries but also close allies like Australia, Canada, the EU, and Japan - have reinforced a chilling global reality. The former leader of the free world can no longer be counted on. Not for diplomacy. Not for economic partnership. And not for stability. Not for security. This isn’t just a footnote in history - it’s a gunshot to the foot. And the damage is permanent.

Trump is using tariffs as tools of chaos. He’s weaponising them not to solve real economic issues, but to stoke political fear, punish critics, and project strength in a world where American influence is rapidly waning. In reality, his tariffs are harming American stock markets, superannuation funds, farmers, businesses, and working families. They’re tanking the US economy. And they’re pushing the rest of the world to diversify away from the US as quickly as possible.

It’s not just the economic pain. It’s the deeper, more corrosive impact: the destruction of trust. America’s allies - nations including Australia that invested decades in building shared security and prosperity - are stepping back. And the shift is real and irreversible. Why bet your economy and your security on a country that changes its entire global stance based on the whims of a populist who holds the White House?

The US is a shrinking superpower in a growing world. Yes, it remains large, but it’s no longer the only game in town. The world has over 7.8 billion people across more than 190 countries. And while Washington spirals into dysfunction and division, the rest of the world will step up. Regional partnerships will strengthen. Climate cooperation will move ahead without American leadership. Trade blocs will form that deliberately sideline the US.

What Trump has done - deliberately or not - is expose the fragility of the American model. Its politics are unstable. Its economy, while large, is increasingly distorted by inequality. And its foreign policy is now guided by whim, not wisdom.

Australia must respond with clarity and courage. We need to decouple our economy and defence from the US - not because we’re anti-American, but because we’re pro-sovereignty and pro-stability. We need to forge stronger ties with nations that value collaboration over coercion. We should deepen relationships with Japan, South Korea, India, Indonesia, and EU-nations that share our democratic values and understand the stakes of climate collapse, trade fairness, and regional peace.

We must also build our own capacity - domestically and diplomatically. That means investing in manufacturing, renewables, digital sovereignty, and defence systems that don’t rely on unstable superpowers that put kill-switches in the fighter jets they sell to their allies. It means recognising that America’s internal crises should not become ours.

Trade won’t stop. Diplomacy won’t stop. The rest of the world won’t stop. But what has ceased, is the automatic assumption that the United States is the steady hand at the wheel.

We’re witnessing the decline in reliability and relevance of a once-dominant superpower. And when broken on this scale, it may never come back.

The United States has shot itself in the foot.