Since Donald Trump stepped into office as president of the United States, he has destroyed other nations’ trust and support. By implementing heavy tariffs, threatening to annex Canada and Greenland, and mishandling the Ukrainian-Russian war, Trump has demolished international trust and made other countries despise America.
Tariffs have been the focal point of the media since Trump became president of the United States. Tariffs, or the implementation of high taxes on imported goods from other countries, have strained relations and even caused a trade war with China. Juliana Lui and Nectar Gan from Cable News Network reported on April 24, 2025, “On Wednesday, the hashtag ‘Trump chickened out’ was trending as a top topic on social media platform Weibo, racking up more than 150 million views.” This hashtag came from Trump’s action of removing tariffs from China after he implemented a 145 percent tax. This has caused the people of China to completely lose trust in Donald Trump and left them wondering what he is planning next. This action has also been perceived as a threat, as Trump’s way of proving that he can and will impose incredibly high tariffs. Trump’s questionable implementation of tariffs has ruined China’s trust, causing conflict and tension between the nations.
Another point of tension caused by Donald Trump is his handling of the Ukraine-Russia war. Yang Tian and Ian Aikman from the British Broadcasting Corporation reported on April 15, 2025, “Donald Trump has again blamed Volodymyr Zelensky for starting the war with Russia.” The war in Russia has been anything but the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, fault. Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, was the one who invaded Ukraine, and is absolutely devastating Ukraine’s infrastructure while murdering thousands of people. By stating that the war is Zelensky’s fault, he has insulted Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, as well as disgusted countries that have supported Ukraine throughout the war. This statement has only turned other nations against America and brought shame to the United States.
To further other countries’ hatred of the United States, Trump claimed that Canada would become the 51st state of America. This has received heavy backlash and heavily influenced Canada’s latest election. Anthony Zurcher, from the British Broadcasting Corporation, reports that the new Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, said, “President Trump is trying to break us so that America can own us. That will never ever happen.” Carney stated this during one of his campaign speeches, advertising that if he were to become Prime Minister, he would not allow Canada to become part of America. Without this aspect of his campaign, there is a decent chance Carney would not have won the election. This proves how much other nations, such as Canada, are insulted and disgusted by Trump’s statements and claims.
Similar to Canada, Trump claimed that he would take control of Greenland during his time as president. An article by Seb Starcevic on Politico reports that the people of Greenland have staged protests against Trump’s threat. This has caused both Greenland and Denmark to despise and be wary of the United States, since Greenland is currently a territory of Denmark.
Since Trump has stepped into office, he has insulted, disgusted, and harmed other countries around the world. He has invigorated the people of many countries into protest, and caused some to elect different leaders devoted to keeping Trump at bay. Trump’s harmful treatment of other countries will only lead to high tension between nations, eventually causing serious problems.
