The episode left a mark, as the attempt was as bold as its impact was almost nil, if not counterproductive. During his first term in office, Donald Trump had prided himself on being able to find a compromise with the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-un, to rid his country of nuclear weapons. The initiative resulted in a few memorable scenes: Trump stepping onto the rogue state's soil, walking in the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas, in June 2019; three summits with the ruler of Pyongyang; and the outline of an improbable and vague "deal" to denuclearize the peninsula, which went nowhere.
At the time, lacking a breakthrough on the deal's fundamentals, Trump, an amateur diplomat who is more adept at wielding rhetorical dynamite, quickly turned away from the problem. This allowed the North Korean regime to continue down its path, to the point where it is now Russia's most committed ally against Ukraine, with its troops reinforcing Russia's in the Kursk region.
Less than three months after his return to the White House, Trump seems to be the only one who has forgotten this attempt. In order to "Make America Great Again," he has stepped up his diplomatic moves, in a world where his actions now threaten to further exacerbate the disorder.
Trump shows little regard for multilateral institutions, such as the United Nations and its agencies. He has, for example, withdrawn the United States from the World Health Organization. He has trampled over the rules of international law, as evidenced by his proposal to empty the Gaza Strip of its population, or even to annex it and transform it into a "Riviera." Around the globe, the freezing of US aid funds has provoked chaos among US partners, governments and NGOs.
His wavering on tariffs has demonstrated this, as have the threats against Canada and Greenland. Trump takes perverse pleasure in pushing his allies around, in the name of only defending the US' interests. He favors "strongmen" who lead unabashedly forceful powers, whether it's the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman or the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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