Trump boasts about global 'respect,' but he keeps confronting international ridicule

[LetMyPeopleVote]

As French President Emmanuel Macron talks about Vladimir Putin “once again” playing Trump, the White House’s claims about respect look absurd.

On the one hand, Trump keeps boasting about the “respect” he commands abroad.

On the other hand, France’s Macron is talking about Putin “once again” playing Trump, foreign officials are taunting the White House, and polls show Trump’s global standing in the toilet. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-08-29T20:58:41.847Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-boasts-global-respect-keeps-confronting-international-ridicule-rcna228112

At Donald Trump’s marathon White House Cabinet meeting this week, the president boasted at the outset: “We’re respected all over the world — like never before, probably.” A few days earlier, pointing to evidence that only exists in his imagination, he added: “Our nation now is the most respected nation anywhere in the world, by far.”

That might’ve once been true, but it’s certainly not the case now. On the contrary, it has become increasingly common to see Trump face growing ridicule on the international stage. Politico reported:

Pressure is mounting on Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to bilateral talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with French President Emmanuel Macron weighing in on Friday. ‘If that doesn’t happen by Monday, the deadline set by President Trump, it means that once again President Putin played President Trump,’ Macron said at a joint news conference with the German chancellor.

.....What’s more, the problem isn’t limited to foreign officials. In June, the Pew Research Center released the results of international surveys measuring Trump’s support in 24 nations across the globe. As the Pew report made clear, the results were awful:

Majorities in most countries also express little or no confidence in Trump’s ability to handle specific issues, including immigration, the Russia-Ukraine war, U.S.-China relations, global economic problems, conflicts between Israel and its neighbors, and climate change. When asked about Trump’s personal characteristics, most describe him as arrogant and dangerous, while relatively few see him as honest.

Broadly speaking, good news for the White House was hard to find in the data. Not only does much of the world hold Trump in low regard, but his unpopularity is tarnishing the stature of the United States, too, with favorable ratings of the U.S. dropping by double digits in several countries......

The problem with this defense is that Trump has invested an enormous amount of time and energy making the opposite argument. Indeed, as recently as the last seven days, he continued to claim, more than once, that thanks to his awesomeness, “our nation now is the most respected nation anywhere in the world, by far.”

It’d be great if that were true. As a result of his failures, weakness and humiliations, it’s not.