...it’s already clear that much of the world is loudly rejecting Trump and his “America first” vision. Even before his election, only fourteen per cent of Canadians, nine per cent of Europeans, and nine per cent of Japanese said that they had confidence in Trump on matters of world affairs, according to a Pew survey last summer. Never before has a U.S. President triggered so much animosity among so many nations in so short a time as Trump did in his first week in office. Having previously blamed the Mexican government for intentionally sending “killers and rapists” to the United States, his move to start construction of a border wall and talk of new tariffs on Mexican imports to pay for it have plunged U.S.-Mexico relations to their lowest point in decades. His executive orders to suspend the admission of refugees to the United States, and to halt all immigration from seven Muslim countries—all in the name of fighting “radical Islamic terrorism”—send a message to the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims that Trump sees them as inherently suspect.
Like his Inauguration, Trump’s arrival in foreign capitals will likely spark large-scale protests. The British Prime Minister Theresa May’s invitation to Trump to visit London has already provoked outrage across the U.K. At the nato summit this spring, in Brussels, Europeans will remember that he called the city a “hellhole,” has said nato is “obsolete,” and that he hopes to have a “fantastic relationship” with Russia’s Vladimir Putin. When Trump visits Tokyo, protesters will recall his threat that the U.S. might need to “walk” away from its treaty obligations with Japan because, if the United States were attacked, Japanese would just “sit home and watch Sony television.” When he visits Seoul, South Koreans will remember his threat that “they’re going to have to defend themselves” against North Korea if they don’t pay the United States a greater share for their defense.
In this sense, Trump has already muzzled himself as a credible voice for America on the world stage.
Read about it here.
