Trump has made some noises about a spheres-of-influence approach with his Donroe Doctrine, prioritizing U.S. control over the Western hemisphere. He has been happy to reward Russia for its "policing" of neighboring Ukraine, and he's been ambiguous at best about coming to the defense of Taiwan, should China threaten it. Indeed, he has been more than happy to delegate such responsibilities to others, whether it's Israel in the Middle East or acting president Delcy Rodr-guez in Venezuela. In a complex world as full of nukes and conventional missiles as the United States is of handguns, globocops need their deputies.
However, neither isolationism nor the idea of global spheres of influence has truly captured Trump's imagination. In the first year of his second term, he has instead driven a stake through the very idea of isolationism by launching military operations in Venezuela, Nigeria, Iran, Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, and Syria. Nor has he shown any deep interest in confining his ambitions to the Western hemisphere. Instead, he has continued to build the Pentagon budget to counter China, while fancying himself a peacemaker across the Global South. Wherever his critics continue to dance beyond his grasp, as in Cuba and Iran, and wherever valuable resources can be extracted for personal and political gain, as in Greenland and the Congo, Trump will try to press any military advantage he might have.
For all of us who found fault with the "good cop" approach of Obama in Libya -- and there was much fault to be found -- it's once again time to get a taste of America as the "bad cop." So far, Trump's targets have been weak (Venezuela) or easy to attack (Iran, after Israel destroyed its air defenses). The grave danger is that, encouraged by such "successes," Trump may move on to larger targets like China or the 60% of American citizens who oppose his policies.
Cops, protected by their badges and their guns, think they're invincible. Taken to court over their crimes and corruption, they suddenly discover that they're not in fact above the law. Trump is now turning the United States into a "bad cop." Let's hope that he learns a lesson about the limits of his power before he goes apocalyptically rogue.
Copyright 2026 John Feffer
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