Joseph S. Nye says that the US will survive the Trump presidency and "recover its soft power," because the country is "more than either Trump or the government." Since he took office he has demeaned the presidency by flouting the laws and violating the Constitution, making him a highly unsavoury leader at home and abroad. Fortunately America still has a vibrant civil society and independent media that stand up to him.

The author says a country’s "soft power comes primarily from three sources" - culture, political values and policies. American popular culture is unsurpassed - widely known for its creativity and business nous. Even though Trump himself trashes liberal values like democracy and human rights and abandons policies on immigration and environment etc., at home many state governments, private organisations and individuals are scrambling to save them.

For decades American institutions - companies, universities, foundations, churches, and other non-governmental groups - have been active projecting "soft power of their own which may reinforce or be at odds with official foreign policy goals. And all of these private sources of soft power are likely to become increasingly important in the global information age." They will have to increase their activities, because Trump’s budget director, Mick Mulvaney, opted for a “hard power budget” and cut spending for the State Department and the US Agency for International Development "by 30%."

US leadership has nose-dived under Trump, who doesn't hesitate to infuriate other countries, losing clout and allies abroad. His break from the Paris climate agreement; his utilitarian approach in relentless pursuit of gains; erratic behaviour; bellicose and inconsistent rhetoric on Twitter; picking of needless fights with other leaders in - at times - trivial issues etc. have made America a reduced force, simply because of the number of objectionable qualities of the man at the top.

What makes the matter worse is that Rex Tillerson is also a foreign policy novice like Trump. The State Department is paralysed, with hundreds of key posts unfilled. The US has lost the moral authority it much enjoyed under Obama - a fact visible in the way Trump was received at international gatherings, such as the G20 summit in Hamburg last July. European leaders had not forgotten how Trump at a NATO summit in Brussels earlier in May pushed aside the prime minister of Montenegro and moved past him, with no word like “Excuse me” or “Pardon me.”

Elected leaders do care what their publics think about Trump and the US. He is personally disliked across the globe, with most people seeing him as totally unqualified, arrogant, intolerant and dangerous, who does not care about other people than his own supporters. His low approval ratings make it harder for leaders to publicly cooperate with his administration – even when it might be in their interest to do so.

More than three-quarters of the world has little or no confidence in Trump’s global leadership and his policies. Yet Trump’s supporters argue that his “America First” policies are never intended to make him popular abroad, and that he relies mainly on his base to boost his ego and popularity. But his relentless and childlike outbursts are causing untold damage to the country's standing. Since the world had depended upon American stability and leadership for decades, Trump's reckless behaviour has implications that extend far beyond the US borders. But America had survived anti-American sentiments in different eras and managed to bounce back. People need to have patience when they want to see Trump removed - in a free and fair democratic process.