August 30, 2025 07:43 AM IST First published on: Aug 30, 2025 at 07:43 AM ISTSome of the foundational ideas of the modern-day USA were enunciated by President Woodrow Wilson after World War I. He was a Kantian liberal. Immanuel Kant, the 18th-century German liberal philosopher, believed that constitutional republics are inclined to conduct their affairs with other countries in a peaceful manner. Wilson made that one of the pillars of the idea of America in the 20th century. His other pillars included free markets and constitutionalism. Later, Franklin D Roosevelt developed the three principles — democratic peace, seamless global trade and anti-despotic constitutionalism — in the Atlantic Charter he built with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill during World War II. Kant suggested that sometimes democracies can become the rule of a brute majority, which is “not the will of all”. That’s why constitutionalism, a set of agreed-upon principles as the foundation for nations to conduct their affairs within and without, is significant.The American identity was built on those principles. It became a nation not because of the people who had lived in its territory for centuries with a common language or culture. On the contrary, barring the Native Americans, the citizens of the US came from all over the world. Most of them were attracted by the freedoms the country offered. They created an American identity that was synonymous with liberty. Inspired by those great ideas, a French politician, Édouard René de Laboulaye, proposed a majestic gift of friendship to the people of America in 1865, the Statue of Liberty, which proudly stands in New York Harbour.AdvertisementIn a famous speech while demitting office in 1989, President Ronald Reagan summed up these ideals eloquently. “You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman; you can go to live in Germany or Turkey or Japan, but you cannot become a German or a Turk or a Japanese. But anyone from any corner of the Earth can come to live in America and become an American,” Reagan said. Other countries may seek to compete with America, but “in one vital area as a beacon of freedom and opportunity that draws the people of the world, no country comes close,” he claimed.Generations of Americans, and people in the rest of the world, believed in “American exceptionalism”. Occasionally, there were complaints about what some American leaders did or did not do to other countries. But there never was any argument over the core Wilsonian ideas. In the history of the US, President Donald Trump will remain the first antithesis of that idea of America. He doesn’t care about democratic peace. Democracies are his enemies, while dictators are friends. Free markets for him are tools of American exploitation. He has also proved Kant right that democracy, too, can become “a despotism”.In fact, Making America Great Again (MAGA), which Trump flaunts to justify his bulldozer policies, is not his own. In 1980, Ronald Reagan said, “Let’s make America great again”. Bill Clinton, too, invoked the same phrase in his 1991 presidential announcement speech, pledging to “make America great again”. The MAGA of Reagan and Clinton epitomised liberal American exceptionalism and inclusivity, whereas Trump’s MAGA represents American exclusivism and isolationism. Trump seems to sincerely believe that dismantling the legacy of a century or more is the surest way of making America great. He thinks that American liberalism was being exploited by every country in the world, from European nations to India to Japan.AdvertisementTariff tyranny is his unconventional and transactional response. As per the latest White House notification, countries around the world face tariffs ranging from 10 per cent to 50 per cent. India falls under the latter category, made applicable earlier this week. Senior officials in the US administration have openly threatened to impose restrictions on H1-B visas, which Indian professionals use extensively to enter the US. In FY 2024, more than 2 lakh Indians availed this visa. Like tariffs, such visa restrictions can also affect US-India trade substantially.Countries are finding Trump’s unilateral actions difficult to fathom. India decided not to succumb to pressures nor tolerate insults like calling its vibrant economy a “dead” one. Although not insensitive to the immediate implications of the tariff tirade, India is also prepared to explore whatever long-term opportunities it may offer in terms of encouraging more self-reliance. However, given the fact that in the new world, global supply chains play a critical role, and the US remains an important technology market for India, there is a predominant view that one should wait for this storm to pass.One important distinction that countries tried to make in this Trumpian madness was to see it not as a “political” challenge, but as a trade tirade. Trump imposed 50 per cent tariffs on China in February, as soon as he took office. China responded with retaliatory tariffs. A month later, Trump imposed another 100 per cent tariff, taking the total to 150 per cent. Luckily for China, Trump did not make his attacks political. He did not raise human rights issues or question China’s policies in Xinjiang or Tibet. China dealt with it as a trade challenge. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke, and the two countries settled for a give-and-take approach. China today faces lower tariffs than India.most readUnfortunately, in India’s case, Trump unwisely crossed red lines, forcing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take a tough stand. Trump’s repeated assertions about mediation between India and Pakistan, and several other politically loaded statements, make it impossible for the Indian government to reconcile. Unlike China, India is a competitive democracy where the political opposition can miscast any government action, even a telephonic conversation, as an act of surrendering to bullying.Storms cause damage to everybody. Trump may realise this soon. But then, there will be a rainbow after every storm.The writer, president, India Foundation, is with the BJP. Views are personal