The world’s leaders are done with Trump’s games. America has become refusable

March 20, 2026 — 2:00am

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At least George W. Bush got his Mission Accomplished moment. That was six weeks after he had invaded Iraq, three weeks after the toppling of the Saddam Hussein statue in Baghdad. The easy part had been done. From there, one of the worst foreign policy disasters of this century unfolded.

Trump, though, is having serious trouble with the easy bit. Whatever else America is meant to be capable of, it is meant to be able to smash things. Trump commands the most awesome military machine in human history. And yet, barely a fortnight into his war on Iran, he’s already reduced to asking for help – not just from traditional allies in Europe – but from China. China!

Here is the mighty US, in the process of becoming great again, beseeching its main geopolitical rival to deploy ships to the Strait of Hormuz, so it can get oil containers flowing through it again. China, of course, can still move oil because Iran is allowing Chinese ships through. China, then, is being asked to join an American war against one of its allies, to solve a problem that is more American than Chinese. It said no.

So, too, did Europe, to the same request. This included several of America’s NATO allies, thereby demonstrating the ways their foreign policies are being uncoupled. Where many followed Bush into his Iraqi disaster, this time they feel they can say no. America has become refusable. “This is not our war,” said the........

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