Author: Julian Borger in Washington, Helen Davidson in Sydney, Leyland Cecco in Toronto, Daniel Boffey in Brussels Philip Oltermann in Berlin, Angela Giuffrida in Rome, Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro and Emmanuel Akinwotu in London Source: The Guardian (U.K.) Publication Date: Fri 15 May 2020 04.00 EDT Link: World looks on in horror as Trump flails over pandemic despite claims US leads way
Stephan: As I am writing this I am listening in the background to a BBC commentary show discuss the collapse of America's status in the world because of Trump and his Igors. Before that, I listened to an Australia news program in which the main topic of discussion was the rise of China as the major world leader as America is diminished as a result of the incompetence, petulance, and ignorance of Trump.
This has become a major geopolitical trend, which may seem distant and of little importance to your personal life, but as a result of this trend, how America interacts with other countries will be profoundly affected and that, in turn, will affect everything from trade, food, and travel, to military cooperation. In three and a half years, Trump has destroyed America's status and the world has changed.
Donald Trump participates in a tour of Owens & Minor Inc, a medical supply company, on Thursday in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Credit: Evan Vucci/AP
The Trump administration has repeatedly claimed that the US is “leading the world” with its response to the pandemic, but it does not seem to be going in any direction the world wants to follow.
Across Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America, views of the US handling of the coronavirus crisis are uniformly negative and range from horror through derision to sympathy. Donald Trump’s musings from the White House briefing room, particularly his thoughts on injecting disinfectant, have drawn the attention of the planet.
“Over more than two centuries, the United States has stirred a very wide range of feelings in the rest of the world: love and hatred, fear and hope, envy and contempt, awe and anger,” the columnist Fintan O’Toole wrote in the Irish Times. “But there is one emotion that has never been directed towards the US until now: pity.”
