By clinging to American primacy through force and intimidation, Donald Trump is, ironically, undermining US global power. A saboteur trying to subvert US interests from the inside could hardly do better than what he’s accomplished through sheer incompetence.
I’m not saying he’s “brilliantly” obfuscating his intent. For one, it’s blatantly obvious. Second, it doesn’t take intelligence to do what he’s doing. Third, my original point is that everyone from media to government officials are clearly in denial about what’s obviously happening, and are constantly downplaying the seriousness of his actions by attributing them solely to incompetence. There’s no chance of countering somebody if you can’t accept the reality of what they’re doing.
At this point, I assume only future historians will have the wherewithal to actually point out the intent behind it all.