When the Stranger Who Calls Is the American President

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/26/opinion/davos-trump-world-economic-forum.html

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As the global governing elite gathered in Davos, Switzerland, for the annual World Economic Forum this week, a classic horror movie came to my mind. Perhaps you remember the scene from “When a Stranger Calls” where a panicked babysitter, stalked by phone, gets on the line with a police officer. The quiet terror of the officer’s words: “We’ve traced the call. It’s coming from inside the house.” Then: “Just get out!”

At Davos, the stranger in the house was President Trump, an internationalist’s nightmare from whom there is no near term escape. The high priests of globalism hoped that by inviting Mr. Trump into their home and treating him with respect, they could exorcise his demonic worldview. For a day at least, they succeeded. Mr. Trump’s uncharacteristically sober speech on Friday focused on “an America that is open for business.” He played effectively to a subset of the Davos community, business executives, that likes Mr. Trump’s corporate tax cuts and deregulatory zeal.

Still, Mr. Trump’s restrained performance could not overcome the widespread conviction that he remains possessed by the dark forces of nationalism, populism, protectionism, unilateralism and xenophobia. And his remarks failed to address the issues of greatest concern to the Davos die-hards.

Every year, the forum asks its members what keeps them up at night. This year’s winners: cybersecurity breaches, self-defeating trade wars, disruptive climate change and the rising danger of military conflicts in which large countries are drawn into regional battles.

Well, check, check, check and check. Mr. Trump has done nothing about Russia’s cyberattack on America’s elections — not even a single-cabinet level meeting — suggesting impunity for future aggression. His two-by-four tariffs on Chinese solar panels and Korean washing machines risk a lose-lose cycle of retaliation and escalation. By initiating America’s withdrawal from the Paris accord, he’s made fighting climate change even harder. Meanwhile, the silent surge of American military forces in the Middle East and South Asia without a broader strategy, and threats to bloody Kim Jong-un’s nose increase the likelihood of miscalculation and conflict.

Even more than the prose of Mr. Trump’s policies, it’s the poetry of his governance that leaves much of the Davos gang, like many Americans, aghast. The pathological lying. The incontinent tweeting. The bullying, braggadocio, threats and taunts. The tearing down of democratic institutions. The racism and bigotry. The praise of autocrats and the demeaning of democrats. The almost total lack of dignity.

The result: Confidence in United States leadership has collapsed, and not just in the Swiss Alps. According to Gallup, only 30 percent of people polled in 134 countries approve of America’s global stewardship under Mr. Trump, down 18 points since Barack Obama left office. Other polls show even greater drops.

This has created an opening for friends, foes and competitors to try to supplant the United States as the world’s organizer in chief. Last year at Davos, President Xi Jinping of China embraced globalism, free trade and international cooperation. This year, President Emmanuel Macron of France, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni of Italy took turns swiping at Mr. Trump’s every-country-for-itself doctrine.

“Shutting ourselves off against the world, isolating ourselves, will not lead to a good future,” Ms. Merkel declared. “Protectionism is not the right answer.”

Mr. Trump and senior members of his team insist that “America First is not America alone.” Except that it is. The world is moving on without Washington. Of 35 new bilateral or multilateral trade accords now being negotiated, the United States is party to just one (with the European Union), and that one is moribund.

Meanwhile, 11 countries just concluded the Trans-Pacific Partnership, without the United States. China is pursuing another Asia-wide pact, without the United States. The European Union finalized major new agreements with Japan and Mexico. Americans won’t benefit from these market-opening initiatives. And because Washington went AWOL in shaping them, our high standards for protecting workers, the environment and intellectual property — which also help to level commercial playing fields tilted against us — are absent as well.

So why did Mr. Trump feel the need to go to Davos? Maybe it’s a case of ego gratification: He was never invited to the forum as a businessman. More likely, it’s because bragging on America’s economy while tweaking the select few in Davos is good politics back home. Mr. Trump’s base feels cheated by global elites who benefited from the remarkable progress of the past 70 years but cut them out of the deal. Every time Mr. Trump provokes howls from the establishment, his base cheers and gets re-energized.

But Mr. Trump missed an opportunity to be a vehicle for their voices. In communities on both sides of the Atlantic, a primal scream of anger, confusion, hurt and resentment is forcing global elites to confront the central paradox of our times. By virtually every metric, the liberal international order has made the world healthier, wealthier, wiser, more secure and more tolerant than it has ever been.

Yet far too many people feel left out or left behind, stripped of dignity, identity and hope. A failure to address their concerns is fueling populism and delegitimizing democracy.

Mr. Trump is a false prophet. But his rise reveals something important about the house we share and the stranger our president has become.