The Hitler in Donald Trump

It is myopic of all nations including India to simply tote up their gains and losses in their dealings with the United States of America for President Donald Trump poses a threat to them far graver than their pecuniary interests Since taking office his avalanche of executive orders and pronouncements suggest he wants to void the rules governing the international order particularly the sanctity of national sovereignty This to him is the path to Make America Great Again MAGARoughly a century ago a German strived to restore the Great Power status to his country which had been vanquished in World War I The international rules framed thereafter he too thought impeded Germanyrsquos quest for greatness He went about flouting themIt is now Trump who has launched an assault on the global architecture of security and trade that the US played the most vital role in establishing It is because of Americarsquos image as the worldrsquos oldest democracy valuing freedom and human rights that Trumprsquos ongoing wrecking game is perceived as merely a strategy to get the best deals for the USYet the similarity between Adolf Hitlerrsquos method in the 1930s and Trumprsquos in 2025 is stark Hitler walked out of the League of Nations as has Trump from the Paris Agreement which all nations endorsed for tackling climate changemdashand which Trump thinks is an obstacle to MAGA Quit he has also the World Health OrganisationHitler upended international treaties remilitarised the Rhineland annexed Austria in 1938 and declared he would occupy Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia in the pursuit of creating Lebensraum or Living Space for Germans The rival powers thought diplomatic deals could contain him In September 1938 in Munich Britain France and Italy agreed to cede Sudetenland to Germany in exchange for Hitler renouncing his claims to the rest of Czechoslovakia which was absent from the meeting The next year Hitler occupied CzechoslovakiaElements of 1938 exist in 2025 After conversing with President Vladimir Putin Trump declared Russia was willing to end the war in Ukraine It might have made for cheerful news but for Trumprsquos defence secretary ruling out Ukraine becoming a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation a compelling reason for the war there nor regaining its border as it existed in 2014 the year in which Putin annexed Crimea As was true of Czechoslovakia in the 1938 Munich meet Trump didnrsquot take Ukrainersquos consent thus weakening its bargaining power and possibly redrawing Europersquos mapTrumprsquos disdain for the weak was displayed when flanked by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has bombed and killed over 47000 Palestinians he said Gazarsquos population should shift to Jordan and Egypt and the place be taken over by the US for building ldquothe Riviera of the Middle Eastrdquo To the two Arab countries saying they wonrsquot accept Palestinians Trump responded ldquoI say they willrdquo Not too different from Hitler going on an annexation spree regardless of what other powers thoughtTrumprsquos belief in white supremacy as false as Hitler extolling the superiority of the mythical Aryan race to which he claimed Germans belonged has driven him to suspend all American assistance to South Africa The reason cited South Africarsquos Expropriation Law which allows the government to acquire land in public interest without in certain instances paying compensation after going through a justification process subject to judicial review This law seeks to redistribute land in South Africa where its roughly eight per cent of white population owns nearly 70 per cent of farmland Trump accused South Africa of discriminating against its white citizens whom he promised to resettle in the US in sharp contrast to his hostile attitude to nonwhite immigrantsHitlerrsquos idea of Lebensraum aimed to unite all Germans in one Empire Trump has repeatedly spoken of turning Canada into Americarsquos 51st state Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he takes Trumprsquos threat seriously as he covets Canadarsquos critical minerals For the same reason he wants to gobble up Greenland He has sanctioned International Criminal Court officials for issuing arrest warrants against Netanyahu and his defence minister Trumprsquos blindness to mass killings and lust for expansion replicate HitlerrsquosTrumprsquos disregard for rules is wreaking havoc in the US too He has paused the functioning of United States Agency for International Development throwing into disarray humanitarian projects worldwide and plans to reduce its staff to five per cent of its current strength Thousands of bureaucrats are due to be purged deemed lacking in commitment to the Trumpian worldview This is reminiscent of the Hitler era Americarsquos famed Diversity Equity and Inclusiveness programme has been put on hold evoking apprehensions of cherished American values being crushed under MAGArsquos wheelsIn this uncertain environment India should cut deals with Trump but without forgetting that his conception of the new global order gives primacy to the credo of ldquomight is rightrdquomdashand is a veritable invitation for the strong including China to feast upon the weak Trump will renege on deals discard and hitch allies to the MAGA bandwagon as Hitler too did in the 1930s Delhirsquos quiescencemdashas on Gaza and South Africa for instancemdashcannot shield India from the blowback of Trumprsquos disruption of the world orderThe writer is a senior journalist and author of Bhima Koregaon Challenging CasteSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper