Donald Trump’s daily assaults on American democracy and the pillars of America’s role in the world are disastrous – and they are also distracting America from even bigger global challenges. At just the moment when the United States must be joining together with the rest of the world to confront three existential threats – climate change, challenges to democracy, and the rise of China – Americans are forced to spend every waking minute mitigating Trump’s damage.

In Trump’s America, it’s hard to keep up. The news and controversies come so quickly they eat into each other’s news cycles. Actions by the Trump administration that previously might have brought down a presidency (or at least merited a congressional inquiry) pass in a matter of hours as the next jaw-dropping scandal explodes.

As Trump forces America’s attention span to shrink (was that even possible?), we are unable to address the three threats that could fundamentally endanger American national security.

First, climate change. It’s hard to overstate the magnitude of this threat. The seas are rising, imperiling hundreds of millions of people in coastal communities from Shanghai to Miami. Climate change is likely enhancing the devastation of extreme weather like storms and heatwaves.

Unless national and global actions are taken, the World Bank estimates that by 2050, more than 140 million people in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia will be forced to leave their homes because of climate change. The near to mid-term effects of the heating planet could affect hundreds of millions. The long-term effects could wipe out humanity.

Preventing the worst effects of climate change and reversing its course would require a global effort the likes of which we’ve only seen in the movie Independence Day, in which the countries of the world put aside their disagreements to fight an alien invasion threatening all of humankind. That’s how difficult this would be in normal circumstances.

But in Donald Trump’s world, we are moving backwards, from announcing the intention to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement to gutting the federal government’s role as a defender of the environment.



The necessary efforts of actors like the US Climate Alliance to encourage US states to continue the transition away from dirty fuels can only do so much in the absence of presidential leadership. And America has vacated the global effort – and abandoned its leadership role – to forge solutions.



Second, the rise of China. China is increasingly willing to throw its weight around the world and to invest in the foundations of long-term global influence. China’s bullying of neighbors in the East and South China Seas and Doklam reveal a brazenness of a more militarily powerful China.

The creation of the Belt and Road Initiative, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) bank are Chinese moves to extend its economic and strategic sway. In the coming years, China may have an extraordinary ability to shape the world’s economic and strategic landscape in ways that could undermine the interests of the United States, from sparking instability in Asia to bolstering the strength of authoritarians.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump can’t figure out what he thinks of China. He praises Xi Jinping – expressing jealousy of China’s removing presidential term limits – while planning tariffs on Chinese goods. He criticizes China’s relationship with North Korea while ignoring China’s destabilizing acts in the South China Sea. At the same time that China is finding new confidence in its global role, the one country capable of pushing back is missing in action.

Third, the endurance of liberal democracy. From Poland to the Philippines, Hungary to Turkey to the United States and beyond, democracies are under attack from within by demagogues, authoritarians and radical populists. America’s prosperity and stability has long depended on friends that share democratic values and today that foundation is under pressure. If the ranks of democracy wither, America will face growing threats to its peace and prosperity.

Democratic values are in jeopardy in Trump’s America too. Trump is attacking democratic institutions from the judiciary to the FBI. He is eroding norms once thought sacred, such as avoiding business conflicts of interest. He exhibits authoritarian impulses like asking officials for personal loyalty. And he is stoking white nationalism while pursuing discriminatory policies against minorities.

In the face of this grave danger to American democracy, many Americans are resisting. Honorable government officials, civil society organizations and concerned citizens are working hard to safeguard laws and institutions. This battle to protect American democracy itself is the most urgent task – and without a strong, democratic America, it will be difficult to tackle the other existential threats.

Unfortunately, much of the work shoring up democracy in America amounts to bailing out the sinking ship as Trump pokes holes in it – trying to stay afloat rather than building a more powerful democracy. And as we try to save our own ship, liberal democracies across the world must face their own existential challenges without America’s help.

Today, America is fighting to safeguard its identity as a welcoming, tolerant, democratic country. But when we emerge from our Trumpian nightmare – assuming we do so intact – America will have lost precious time to tackle global existential threats that are growing.

