The Editorial Board

USA TODAY

From Donald Trump's inauguration through last week's shameful decision to stand behind Saudi Arabia (despite overwhelming evidence of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's complicity in the brutal murder of a U.S.-based journalist), the president has described his foreign-policy doctrine as "America First."

Never mind that the term had fallen out of favor because of its association with fascism. And never mind that the America First movement in the 1930s and 1940s was known mostly for members like aviator Charles Lindbergh, who supported eugenics and made frequent trips to Hitler’s Germany.

More recently, Trump has taken to calling himself a “nationalist,” another freighted term rarely used in mainstream politics.

Never mind that nationalism was credited with unleashing the pointless and tragic World War I, which ended a century ago, and then being embraced by the “National Socialist” (Nazi) party in Germany.

OPPOSING VIEW:President Trump is correct on nationalism

And never mind that in the annals of history, there are no instances in which the hallmarks of nationalism — a belligerent foreign policy, fearmongering, protectionism and racial division — have produced positive long-term results for a country or its workers.

Trump's approach represents a betrayal of core American values and a weakening of the bonds that have produced an unprecedented, seven-decade period of relative peace and prosperity since the end of World War II. Once poor and potentially dangerous parts of the world have been racing forward, closing the gap with developed nations, even as those developed nations continue to advance.

To be sure, globalism, like all social upheavals, has created backlashes in the United States and abroad. Trump's trade policies resonate strongly with displaced American workers. His restrictive immigration posture is not unlike views gaining credence in Europe. And his go-it-alone stance was matched in Great Britain’s "Brexit" vote to withdraw from the European Union.

Nonetheless, a lot more than policy positions is at work here. Trump's anti-globalism crusade sows divisions, peddles fears, and promotes racial animosity as a political strategy.

With his "maybe he did and maybe he didn't" defense of the Saudi crown prince, Trump essentially said the United States would stand with any thugs who shower him with flattery, crude oil or defense contracts. He signaled strongmen around the world that they could eliminate critics with impunity. Open season on dissidents means people will die.

In a World War I commemoration speech this month, French President Emmanuel Macron called out Trump's nationalist rhetoric, warning that “the old demons are rising again, ready to complete their task of chaos and of death.”

"When we say 'our interests come first, those of others don't matter,' we erase the very thing that a nation holds most precious, that which gives it life and makes it great: its moral values," Macron added.

The French president faces major domestic political problems, but he is right about the big picture. Trump’s anti-globalist embrace of nationalism is leading the world in a dangerous direction, one that history shows is not easily reversed.

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