The Reneger-in-Chief

If there is one thing that Trump proved in his first term, it is that the U.S. can and will renege on agreements even when it is clearly in the interests of the United States to keep them.

Panamanians react to Trump’s latest threats to steal their territory wth a mixture of contempt and disbelief:

“The canal is our sole sovereignty. It is ours. Trump is just being Trump.” said René González, 32, a software engineer. “The Americans signed an agreement. They can’t possibly renege on it! [bold mine-DL]” added Francisco Torres, 62.

Many Americans may also assume that the U.S. couldn’t possibly renege on an agreement like this, especially when the other party to the agreement has done nothing wrong. No one should underestimate the contempt that nationalists like Trump have for international agreements when they have decided that those agreements get in the way of their goals. For many nationalists, treaties and other international agreements are fetters to be broken rather than commitments to be honored. Trump thinks practically every agreement he inherits from other presidents is a bad deal that should never have been made, so he has no difficulty throwing them in the trash.