Subject: Re: Trump To Extort $500 Billion from Ukraine
I don't think we can regain the trust and respect we had before.

It takes a long time to earn trust. It only takes a moment to completely lose that trust.

I suspect most of the world looked on in 2016 and though - well, that wasn't very smart. Then 2020 came around and we regained a bit of trust - OK. They fixed their problem.

And now in 2024, we completely blew that tenuous trust out of the water. We have turned away from our position in the world as a trustworthy (albeit imperfect) country and have joined the ranks of the untrustworthy.

All that remains is to see which country - or bloc - will take over that world leadership role. China? EU? India? Africa? Who is capable of gaining the world's trust?

--Peter