Donald Trump, Ice Cold Narcissist
Trump's misguided path is undermining the West and endangering peace.
For what Donald Trump said in his eagerly awaited speech, he did not need to board a plane, turn around and board a second plane, switch to a helicopter and then come to the Swiss mountains. We already knew how self-absorbed he is, what subservience he expects and what stories he will tell.
It is a “mission impossible” to try to interpret what he says. It is dangerous to rely on him, to believe him. And it is grossly negligent to fawn over him obsequiously, as Europe and its leaders have done up to now. They have all brought gold watches to the White House, in one way or another. But it was all for nothing; they are still being publicly humiliated and showered with tariffs.
The almost two-hour speech in Davos during which only Trump could be heard revealed in a relentlessly painful way just how little substance there is behind the mask. Lies, historical revisionism, distorting the past — the only recognizable central theme amid increasingly incoherent anecdotes, stories and repetition was Greenland. What remains of this moment, which had the power to change the world, is a craving for a piece of ice, supposedly for world peace and to strengthen NATO. A stark contrast, then, to what Trump achieved with his announced annexation of Greenland.
False Promise
Anyone who thought they heard a promise in Trump's words that he would pursue negotiations instead of violence in Greenland should remember that Trump recently called for the exact opposite. And in four days, he will say the exact opposite of what he has just said. Trump is erratic, touching on everything and nothing. He created it all himself. He reprimands world leaders. Daddy, king, god. Self-aggrandizement by humiliating the rest of the world. A deeply wounded narcissist stands at the lectern.
He doesn't deserve live tickers, editorials or attention. But unfortunately, one of the few facts from Wednesday afternoon is that he is the most powerful man in the world. His aides carry the briefcase containing the nuclear launch codes. We have no choice, we have to engage with him to preserve international unity and to avoid losing ourselves. It isn’t Europe that is heading in the wrong direction, as Trump said in Davos. It’s Trump who on the direct path to a head-on collision.
Rarely since the beginning of the trans-Atlantic friendship, since international cooperation, since the establishment of the West, have our core values been more threatened, not by external influence, but by friendly fire. Davos, high in the Swiss mountains, will go down in history as the lowest point of American foreign policy and diplomacy. The destructiveness and self-abandonment of the United States that we once looked up to could not be clearer.
Nothing demonstrates the decline of the Western world more than the fact that this was supposed to be a speech by a U.S. president.
For what Donald Trump said in his eagerly awaited speech, he did not need to board a plane, turn around and board a second plane, switch to a helicopter and then come to the Swiss mountains. We already knew how self-absorbed he is, what subservience he expects and what stories he will tell.
It is a “mission impossible” to try to interpret what he says. It is dangerous to rely on him, to believe him. And it is grossly negligent to fawn over him obsequiously, as Europe and its leaders have done up to now. They have all brought gold watches to the White House, in one way or another. But it was all for nothing; they are still being publicly humiliated and showered with tariffs.
The almost two-hour speech in Davos during which only Trump could be heard revealed in a relentlessly painful way just how little substance there is behind the mask. Lies, historical revisionism, distorting the past — the only recognizable central theme amid increasingly incoherent anecdotes, stories and repetition was Greenland. What remains of this moment, which had the power to change the world, is a craving for a piece of ice, supposedly for world peace and to strengthen NATO. A stark contrast, then, to what Trump achieved with his announced annexation of Greenland.
False Promise
Anyone who thought they heard a promise in Trump's words that he would pursue negotiations instead of violence in Greenland should remember that Trump recently called for the exact opposite. And in four days, he will say the exact opposite of what he has just said. Trump is erratic, touching on everything and nothing. He created it all himself. He reprimands world leaders. Daddy, king, god. Self-aggrandizement by humiliating the rest of the world. A deeply wounded narcissist stands at the lectern.
He doesn't deserve live tickers, editorials or attention. But unfortunately, one of the few facts from Wednesday afternoon is that he is the most powerful man in the world. His aides carry the briefcase containing the nuclear launch codes. We have no choice, we have to engage with him to preserve international unity and to avoid losing ourselves. It isn’t Europe that is heading in the wrong direction, as Trump said in Davos. It’s Trump who on the direct path to a head-on collision.
Rarely since the beginning of the trans-Atlantic friendship, since international cooperation, since the establishment of the West, have our core values been more threatened, not by external influence, but by friendly fire. Davos, high in the Swiss mountains, will go down in history as the lowest point of American foreign policy and diplomacy. The destructiveness and self-abandonment of the United States that we once looked up to could not be clearer.
Nothing demonstrates the decline of the Western world more than the fact that this was supposed to be a speech by a U.S. president.
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