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I'll bite as you don't appear to be a troll. Trump and his regime has on many occasions talked about "America first" and also bashed international organization

I'll bite as you don't appear to be a troll. Trump and his regime has on many occasions talked about "America first" and also bashed international organizations like NATO/UN. But ... you knew this. While you won't find a citation of him saying "I'm no longer interested in being the leader of free world" you will find that he rejects the concept of "the free world" by decrying "globalists" as being the cause of a perceived decline in America's influence and power. Not to mention his bashing of allies on trade, security and a variety of other issues - making it clear he's not interested in "leading" but rather ... dominating(?) So to me, retracting from the global economy, bashing allies, and complimenting authoritarian monsters would seem to indicate he's cool with "retreating" from that role.

mc32 8y ago
For the longest time many on the left would complain about american hegemony, American interventionism, american-led globalism, etc. now that the US is retreating and China appears to be taking up some of the slack, now people are complaining of retreat, and focusing on america too much, etc.
- empath75 8y ago
  People on the left usually weren't opposed to American interventionism in general or 'leading the free world', they were opposed to stuff like toppling governments to install friendly dictators.
- thebooktocome 8y ago
  "The left" is a diverse group of competing interests and political philosophies, just as "the right" encompasses fiscal conservatives, multinational CEOs, Christians, and white supremacists.
- UweSchmidt 8y ago
  Nice straw man: Retreating from Paris Agreement on Climate certainly is a kind of isolationism that is not welcome and viewed differently from military interventions around the world. Would you grant 'the left' to at least have a consistent view, or do you insist on your simplistic world view?
  - mc32 8y ago
    Not really. The article is about the “retreat” of the dollar and how America, in their view is abdicating its responsibility to “police” the world. I think whats happening is some people who clamored for america to retreat from dominance now regret their devil’s bargain now that they found out the devil (in this case China) disagrees with their vision.
  - dang 8y ago
    Personal swipes will get you banned here, so please don't. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
gadders 8y ago
Well, I guess if you were to ask him "Do you still consider your role (or America as a country) to be the leader of the free world?" I assume he would answer "Yes." However, he may think he is being a "tougher" leader than before.
rrggrr 8y ago
> So to me, retracting from the global economy, bashing allies, and complimenting authoritarian monsters would seem to indicate he's cool with "retreating" from that role. Soft power is great when it works. Soft power leaves personal and bilateral relationships largely undisturbed and reinforces stability. The problem is this... it doesn't work when both sides do not share a strong incentive (or the same timeline) to reach a negotiated agreement. Hard power is required and not inherently bad when gridlock, urgency and incentives justify its use.

mc32 8y ago

For the longest time many on the left would complain about american hegemony, American interventionism, american-led globalism, etc. now that the US is retreating and China appears to be taking up some of the slack, now people are complaining of retreat, and focusing on america too much, etc.

empath75 8y ago
People on the left usually weren't opposed to American interventionism in general or 'leading the free world', they were opposed to stuff like toppling governments to install friendly dictators.
thebooktocome 8y ago
"The left" is a diverse group of competing interests and political philosophies, just as "the right" encompasses fiscal conservatives, multinational CEOs, Christians, and white supremacists.
UweSchmidt 8y ago
Nice straw man: Retreating from Paris Agreement on Climate certainly is a kind of isolationism that is not welcome and viewed differently from military interventions around the world. Would you grant 'the left' to at least have a consistent view, or do you insist on your simplistic world view?
- mc32 8y ago
  Not really. The article is about the “retreat” of the dollar and how America, in their view is abdicating its responsibility to “police” the world. I think whats happening is some people who clamored for america to retreat from dominance now regret their devil’s bargain now that they found out the devil (in this case China) disagrees with their vision.
- dang 8y ago
  Personal swipes will get you banned here, so please don't. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

gadders 8y ago

Well, I guess if you were to ask him "Do you still consider your role (or America as a country) to be the leader of the free world?" I assume he would answer "Yes." However, he may think he is being a "tougher" leader than before.

rrggrr 8y ago

> So to me, retracting from the global economy, bashing allies, and complimenting authoritarian monsters would seem to indicate he's cool with "retreating" from that role. Soft power is great when it works. Soft power leaves personal and bilateral relationships largely undisturbed and reinforces stability. The problem is this... it doesn't work when both sides do not share a strong incentive (or the same timeline) to reach a negotiated agreement. Hard power is required and not inherently bad when gridlock, urgency and incentives justify its use.