Remember a few months back when we didn’t have to worry about the safety of Social Security, when we weren’t anxious about a possible recession, and when we didn’t have to lose sleep at night knowing our private details rested in the hands of a 20-year-old nicknamed “Big Balls?”
In the weeks since President Trump unleashed Elon Musk’s DOGE crewmembers to chainsaw their way through our federal government, we have been losing any remaining trust we had in Trump’s ability to steer us in the right direction. In this, we are not alone. Other nations too are losing confidence in America.
Trust is one of those assets that’s difficult to acquire. It is a quality gained over time. It recognizes someone’s or some institution’s reliability. The word trust has a Scandinavian origin; it’s taken from the Old Norse word traust and is likely akin to Old English treowe meaning faithful.
This nation’s trustworthiness was once its superpower. Although that trust declined during the Vietnam and Iraqi wars, it remained high enough that the nation was able to regain its stability and meet crises like the Covid pandemic that left other nations struggling to recover. The country’s reputation owed much to faith in the competence and integrity of our civil service and federal institutions.
That faith is now in grave danger. In 2017, before Donald Trump’s first term, Transparency International ranked the United States among the top 20 countries in the world for least corrupt government. Today the U.S. is posting its lowest score ever, tied with the Bahamas, an offshore financial center rocked by corruption scandals. Another index, the World Population Review, rated trust in the U.S. at 30.2 percent, behind Turkey and Russia.
Trust in government to do what’s right is a form of wealth. Dartmouth sociology professor Brooke Harrington, writing in The New York Times, cited trust as “once America’s superpower. But, driven by Trump’s dizzying tariff game, coupled with Musk’s violation of the public trust, the nation has been plunging downward. Each day’s news brings more worrisome reports.
The stock market’s plummet first grabbed the headlines. But the bigger problem lurked elsewhere as investors began dumping U.S. government bonds. Experts worry that big banks, funds, and traders are losing faith in America’s standing as a good place to store their money. This nation risks loss of its reputation as a safe haven.
This loss of confidence is potential bad news for consumers and equally for President Trump. Last week, he did an abrupt turnaround, announcing a tariff pause — counting on it to restore confidence. Still it was only a 90-day hiatus. Trump is keeping tariffs nominally in place apparently to force other countries to come begging his favor, inflating his ego, and making concessions.
What’s ahead is a dive into uncertainty. Ordinary Americans likely will see adverse effects in the form of higher interest rates on loans and mortgages. Prices will be affected, goods will grow more expensive.
If it was the bond market and not stocks alone that made Trump change course, it shouldn’t come as a surprise. He (or at least his advisers) can cite a recent example in Liz Truss’s 49-day reign in the United Kingdom. The bond market’s reaction to her tax and budget policy was instrumental in making her Britain’s shortest-serving prime minster. It was as brief, said the wags, as it took a head of lettuce to wilt.
The continued fallout from the president’s erratic course is being seen throughout the country. There are “hands off” demonstrations throughout the country. When Republican lawmakers venture home, they face angry constituents at town halls. They’re hearing an outpouring of fury over what Trump in doing in Washington.
People are angry at Trump’s leadership. Polls confirm that dissatisfaction, showing his numbers headed down. The same is true about public confidence in government. The trust that holds our democracy together is threatened as never before. We now must work to restore trust in government; our economic health depends on it.
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Thanks Jean. An interesting book is “The Speed of Trust,” which argues that when trust is high needed things can be done expeditiously; when low everything takes forever and little is accomplished. Trump is doing things quickly so that distrust doesn’t keep up with him. But it will, eventually.
My Easter hope is that you’re prophetic, Anthony.
Hey Jean, Good job detailing the destabilization–on both the domestic and international fronts–that accompanies Trump’s reckless rampage. Government jobs at the Social Security Administration and the VA are cut putting dedicated federal employees out of work and putting many citizens dependent on critical services in distress. At a time when care and cooperation are needed to address the exigencies of climate change and environmental destruction, the venal Trump precipitates a panoply of litigation that in any normal time would not be happening. Again this past weekend outraged citizens gathered and spoke out against this miserable regime. We have to keep at it and get more concerned folks on board and out to shout in the streets. A cogent and informed program must be hammered out to retake lost ground and restore trust in democracy. Onward!