Zooming In at The UnPopulist Will the Trump Administration's MAGA-Driven Foreign Policy Be America's Downfall? A Conversation with Anne Applebaum
Feb 5, 2026
Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer Prize–winning historian and Atlantic columnist, discusses Trump-era foreign policy and the rise of global authoritarians. They cover lack of coherent strategy, MAGA’s domination and rule-breaking mindset, spheres-of-influence thinking and transactional diplomacy, personal financial motives shaping policy, threats to alliances and economic fallout, and possible middle-power responses.
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Personality Over Doctrine
- Donald Trump lacks a coherent long-term foreign policy and acts on instincts and whims rather than strategy.
- Anne Applebaum argues this personality-driven approach creates unpredictable, rule-breaking US behavior that undermines international norms.
A Global Rupture, Not Transition
- Trump's actions accelerate a broader global trend where leaders ignore international law and norms, a trend also seen in Putin's behavior.
- Applebaum says this coordinated rule-breaking amounts to a rupture, not a gradual transition, in the international order.
Spheres Of Influence Are Misleading
- The idea of three great-power spheres of influence is largely a Russian fantasy that overstates Russia's capacity.
- Applebaum warns Trump's team contains thinkers who favor Western-hemisphere dominance and retreat from Europe and Asia.