Every US presidency runs an implicit profit and loss account. The Trump presidency is no different.

But the profit and loss account is: Donald Trump’s personal profits from the office of president are in the billions, while America’s losses in terms of authority, credibility, legitimacy and standing are spiralling by the day. 

For Australia, which for 80 years has proclaimed its dependence on the US, this precipitous decline in American power matters.

It matters vitally. For if our national security relies on a partner that goes missing in supporting Ukraine against Russia’s predatory behaviour, is hopeless in dealing with the consequences of its own predatory behaviour towards Iran, and leaves Venezuela in the lurch in the face of a cataclysmic natural disaster, we are in real trouble. Where else can we go? 

The answer is simple – nowhere. We need to start relying on ourselves. And that, curiously, is easier done than said. 

America is reeling from a huge double whammy – the total failure of leadership at the personal and cabinet level within the Trump administration, combined with the catastrophic decline in public ethics and private morality.

Without leadership there can be no statesmanship, without ethics and morality there can be no rule........

© The New Daily