National Solipsism

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Donald Trump has a foreign policy of self-glorification and nothing else.

Donald Trump, just days before his inauguration, has given his first extended post-election interview to the foreign press. In a session with two correspondents—one from Bild, the other from the Times of London—Trump talks about Europe, Russia, trade, migration, and other issues. The interview clarifies the principle that will guide Trump’s foreign policy: narcissism.

In the crystallizing moment, one of the correspondents asks Trump: “Are there heroes that you steer by? People you look up to from the past?” Trump struggles with the question. “I don’t like the concept of heroes,” he says. First he talks about his father: “He did houses and housing, and I learned a lot about negotiation from my father.” Then, on second thought, Trump takes the credit for himself: “Negotiation is a natural trait. … You either have it or you don’t.” Then he segues to a self-tribute: “I got a letter from somebody, their congressman. They said, ‘What you’ve done is amazing, because you were never a politician, and you beat all the politicians.’ I had three months of experience, and the 17 guys I was running against, the Republicans, had 236 years.”

The answer, jumbled as it is, provides a complete tour of Trump’s worldview. He doesn’t have a philosophy. He has an algorithm. He sees no heroes, mentors, or bonds of moral affiliation. He applies the term “Republican” not to himself but to the public servants he vanquished. Every topic, triumph, and virtue comes back to Trump, and everyone else is a rival. His foreign policy, therefore, is a policy of self-interest. It’s not even a policy of national self-interest. It’s a policy of tribalism of the narrowest kind and, ultimately, of glorifying Trump.....

Read the rest at: 

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/01/a_complete_tour_of_donald_trump_s_worldview_in_a_single_garbled_quote.html