Trump, Asia and the New World Order
When I was flying back and forth to Indonesia last year, something on the ground kept nagging at me more than the jet lag.
It wasn’t the traffic jams or the humidity. It was the cars.
Jakarta’s new car market is now a sea of logos many Europeans and Americans still barely recognise: BYD, Chery, Geely, Great Wall, Wuling. These aren’t curiosities anymore; they’re the default options on showroom floors and in middle-class driveways. China exported about 5.9 million vehicles in 2024, with Chinese brands now taking around 65% of their own domestic market and leading global export growth.
If you want to understand why Donald Trump’s isolationist “America First” project is actually accelerating America’s relative decline, start in a Jakarta car park, not in Washington.
Because while Trump shouts about greatness into a microphone, the centre of gravity of the real economy is sliding, quietly and empirically, towards Asia.
Asia’s Rise Is No Longer a Prediction — It’s a Measurement
Asia now accounts for around 49% of global GDP (PPP). North America and Europe combined have dropped to about 39%, down from 58% in 1980. The shift isn’t subtle; it’s structural.
China alone produces about 35% of global manufactured goods, more than the next nine countries combined. Its share of global exports has risen from 3.9% in 2000 to over 14% today, while the U.S. has fallen from 12% to under 9%.
This isn’t “cheating”. It’s performance.
And Asia is performing — relentlessly.
“America First” is being matched by “Asia Busy Working”.
Planes, Cars, Chips: The Quiet Transfer of Influence
In Southeast Asia, the consumer economy has already pivoted eastward. Chinese and Korean car brands have become aspirational. Japanese brands remain strong. American brands barely appear.
And in aviation, China’s COMAC is now producing the C919, a credible competitor to Boeing’s 737 — at exactly the moment Boeing faces delays, quality concerns and real reputational damage.
Asia is no longer assembling Western dreams.
It is building its own.
America First = America Alone = America Weaker
Trump’s worldview is dangerously simple:
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- America has been “ripped off”.
- Trade is zero-sum.
- Tariffs can restore greatness.
- Cooperation is weakness.
But the real effects are the opposite:
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- Allies lose trust.
- Asia builds alternatives.
- Global supply chains simply route around the U.S.
- Markets become unstable.
- The very partners America needs are pushed away.
You do not protect leadership by insulting your allies.
You simply teach them how to live without you.
The Numbers: A Superpower Living Beyond Its Means
A snapshot of America today:
Debt: ~120% of GDP, on track to hit 134% by 2035.
Exports: falling relative to global share.
Education: PISA scores below OECD average in maths.
Health: life expectancy 2 years below other rich countries.
Credit ratings: downgraded due to political dysfunction.
None of this is solely Trump’s fault — but his policies accelerate every downward curve.
The Leadership Problem
The deeper question is moral and cultural:
How does a wealthy democracy choose a leader who is twice impeached, convicted on 34 felony counts, found liable for sexual abuse, repeatedly racist, proudly uninformed — and still treated as a serious statesman?
Even a young YouTuber like Parkergetajob often articulates policy with more coherence than the President of the United States. That alone tells a story.
The decline of leadership is a decline of standards.
And a decline of standards is the beginning of national decay.
History’s Warning Labels
The fall of great powers follows familiar patterns:
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- Rome: internal corruption, political chaos
- Ottomans: denial, nostalgia, refusal to modernise
- Britain: moral exhaustion + economic overstretch
The common thread?
A preference for comforting myths over uncomfortable facts.
Trumpism is exactly that:
a mythology of greatness masking a reality of shrinking influence.
America’s Choice
America is still extraordinary — innovative, creative, wealthy. But greatness today requires cooperation, competence and credibility.
Trump offers none of these.
He offers slogans, ange, division and isolation.
And in a century defined by interconnected systems, a country that isolates itself does not become stronger.
It becomes smaller.
America won’t be destroyed by China or Europe or migrants.
It will be destroyed by the comforting lie that it doesn’t need the rest of the world.