President Trump: Reviving America’s diplomacy and economy - OPINION

By Peter M. Tase, a freelance writer and journalist of International Relations, Latin American and Southern Caucasus current affairs

Over the last twenty years, American middle-class families have been constantly faced with economic recession, skyrocketing costs for medical emergency care, soaring energy bills, excessive government regulations and countless businesses going bankrupt due to radical policies.

The economically tumultuous financial situation going on across the United States today can be described with two words: “kill line”, a commonly used expression that describes the irreversible bankruptcy and fall into poverty levels of citizens who are unable to secure financial stability, let alone own a home or other basic goods.

It is unfortunate that Ronald Regan’s thriving America in the 1980s seems to be a fashionable silhouette from the past; today hard-working American families are vulnerable to high levels of unemployment, facing an imminent fiscal crisis, all of these recently emerging burdens are encompassed within the “kill line” concept that represents countless homeless men roving in the streets of Chicago holding signs that say: “Will work for food” or “homeless and hungry.”

In his analysis published at Foreign Policy in Focus (FPIF), Jianlu Bi argues that:

“The primary reason for this disillusionment is the brutal mathematical gap between the “official” American story and the lived reality. For decades, the U.S. federal poverty line—set at $32,150 for a family of four in 2025—was viewed from afar as a benchmark of success. Current financial analyses suggest that once you account for modern housing, childcare, and the inescapable costs of private healthcare, the actual survival threshold in major US cities is closer to $136,500 for a family of four.”

Unfortunately, it is a fact that close to 40 percent of American adults cannot cover a $400 emergency bill. This is not merely a statistic—it is indeed a horror story.

The gruesome feeling of bankruptcy is a homegrown phenomenon, felt by millions of Americans (including members of my family) in contrast to what the domestic mainstream media portends. At the end of the Cold War, major countries hastily began to understand their role in a world without the looming threat of the Soviet Union; hence, Washington reaped the benefits of a unipolar world.

In his essay “Soft power” Joseph S. Nye, Jr. argued that: “Polls report that nearly half the US public believes the country is in decline, and that those who believe in decline tend to council withdrawal from what they consider ‘overextended international commitments.’ Throughout history, anxiety about decline and shifting balances of power has been accompanied by tension and miscalculation.”

Experience has shown that America's overstretching abroad, with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, resulted into a harsh economic recession at home; in this manner, the American Dream turns into a sandcastle. During his two terms in office, President Barack Obama bloated the U. S. Government, although faced with a terrible housing market collapse, his U. S. Foreign Policy did not prioritize close partnership with the People’s Republic of China. Obama’s eight years at the White House did not strengthen the Washington – Beijing bilateral dialogue nor the political and economic agenda.

Many economists argue that inflation acts as a hidden tax and national financial health was eroded due to trillions of US Dollars spent on unnecessary expenditures. Furthermore business compliance costs have raised the cost of living from gasoline to electricity, therefore squeezing family budgets. The Democratic presidential administrations have been solely focused on expanding the role of the government, embracing “big government” philosophy and advocating for over regulations. Big spending federal programs under the Biden-Harris Administration, have caused irreparable damage into America’s public coffers and to the national debt.

The irresponsible statecraft of the Biden – Harris administration has fueled inflation, shattered the hopes for a healthy household purchasing power, and ruined the national economic fabric.

On the other hand, the Trump – Vance administration recognizes the consequences caused by the feckless democratic administrations and national weakness derived from Washington’s senseless intensified global engagements; the realist argument made by Nye. President Donald Trump, a leader with common sense and equipped with unique skills of statecraft, is focused on reprioritizing the roadmap of the U. S. Foreign Policy, as the world is becoming ever more interdependent.

On the domestic front, President Trump is strengthening the middle class through tax cuts, reducing red tape, promoting American energy independence, and controlling federal spending; this recipe is precisely the solution to raise the family “health bar” above the “Alex Line.”

The Trump administration inherited a poorly performing economy at home and an unquestionably lost American pivot into Asia. However, an optimistic landscape is emerging over the horizon, the “Kill Line” crisis is real, but it is not irreversible, nor should it be used by external actors as a weapon against America. “Kill Line” is a direct consequence of flawed domestic policies.

The Republican economic vision consists in: limited government, individual liberty, a strong national defense, and free enterprise; these tenets will certainly bring back the American Dream and recalibrate Washington’s Foreign Policy towards reaching new alliances and bilateral partnerships as the United States Congress provides legislative support.

Only by returning to these foundational principles can we secure the cornerstone of the middle class, ensure every American family’s “health bar” is fulfilled, and recover the spirit of the American Dream, moving forward. As Washington is entering in its second year of a new era of economic reforms, President Trump and his statecraft is ushering in a bold new chapter of American Gold age while emboldening his nation’s key commercial partnerships with the Far East.

Photo: Instagram/realdonaldtrump/