Something new is happening under the Trump administration, with new rules of global engagement emerging and norms that govern relations between countries being rewritten. His presidency has prompted allies to lead and it has opened the door to a bigger role for China in Asia, especially in economic affairs.
The first crackdown by the Trump administration was the ‘travel ban‘, which mainly targeted Muslim majority countries. Some called the ban a ‘Muslim ban’ for that very reason. Soon after that, he announced withdrawal from Trans-Pacific Partnership ( TPP). The reason cited by Trump was that the partnership did not really favour the US.
Giving the same reason, Trump had pulled the US out of the Paris Climate Accord, an international agreement to tackle climate change due to industrial activities. While withdrawing, Trump alleged that the US was paying for the pollution emitted from countries like China and India.
Among all the chaos, a war of words had started between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump. He threatened Kim with unleashing ‘fire and fury’ on North Korea if it continues to threaten the US.
The withdrawal trend didn’t stop here. Trump stated that by giving Palestine a membership, the UNESCO was displaying an anti-Israel bias; hence, the US withdrew from UNESCO as well. Since the time of his campaigning, Trump had made it clear that when he would come to power, the nuclear deal with Iran would be scrapped as the deal was not strong enough to stop Iran fully. He did the same when he recently pulled the US out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) or the Iran nuclear deal.
The US suspended the $2 billion funding which used to be given to Pakistan as aid. Trump said that Pakistan had misused the funds in the name of curbing terrorism. The move was seen as an important step towards curbing terrorism.
One of the most controversial decisions of Trump administration was shifting the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The move invited criticism from all over the world. 128 countries, including India, voted against this decision in the UN Security Council Meeting.
Recently, Trump has made history by becoming the first sitting US president to meet any North Korean leader. The meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un was long awaited. If the agreements work out, then this meeting will be counted as one of the finest achievements of the US administration.
Overall, the steps taken by the Trump administration since he became the US President have changed the political discourse throughout the world. The style of diplomacy employed by the US when dealing with other countries is changing. The decisions taken by him will have a far-reaching impact on global politics.