Prior to this embarrassing set of mismatched actions, Trump and his team had already done cataclysmic damage to America’s standing as a supporter of democracy and human rights in the world: They disparaged multiple democratic allies, threatened some of them with territorial grabs, blamed Ukraine for being invaded by Russia, spoke in support of illiberal right-wing leaders or parties in various democracies, dismantled approximately 90 percent of U.S. assistance directed at supporting democracy abroad, announced a planned evisceration of the State Department’s annual human rights reports, and disbanded the National Security Council’s staff directorate devoted to democracy and human rights.
But Trump’s performances in Riyadh and with Ramaphosa in the White House take this one-country race to the bottom of democracy policy to an even further low.
U.S. democracy support has long existed with a certain amount of inconsistency. Over the decades, Washington has often gone easier on the dubious political practices of certain authoritarians who provide security and economic benefits to the U.S., while being tougher on those who don’t. But Trump’s glaring, in-your-face assurance of an easy ride to a room full of autocrats one day, followed by him tearing into a friendly democratic government a week later, give this inconsistency a whole new meaning.
Moreover, Trump’s use of obvious disinformation — the amateurish video he showed Ramaphosa, and his accompanying statements about the “over a thousand” killings of white farmers — to try and make his case has uprooted whatever U.S. credibility had survived over the last several months.
It actually used to mean something when a U.S. president raised concerns about specific democracy and human rights wrongdoings with foreign leaders. Using this unique platform to perform a falsity-laden, almost absurd charade in front of the world’s eyes renders this administration utterly uncredible as a diplomatic player in this realm.
Interestingly, however, in their efforts to twist Ramaphosa’s arm, one tool the Trump administration couldn’t invoke was the influence that comes from an active bilateral aid program.