President Trump against the world

Council on Foreign Relations President Michael Froman weighs on how the Trump administration’s approach to global power is shifting from defender to challenger of the post-WWII international order. Froman breaks down how tariffs, once used for retaliating against unfair trade practices, have become tools of leverage on a wide range of issues—“the most beautiful word in the English dictionary,” as President Trump put it.“You don’t have to think about going through dispute settlement processes” or follow established protocols, Froman tells Ian Bremmer. Instead, Trump’s approach is yielding American power as needed. With this shift, Froman raises the question: what happens when other countries begin to adopt this unilateral approach? “We were the defenders,” he says, “now we are seen as one of the challengers. Does that create a permission structure for other countries to challenge it as well?”