By Paul Silverstone | 10 September 2025
Church and State
Donald Trump has created a shambles of American foreign policy. Decades of trying to woo India to be more supportive have ended in pushing India into a closer relationship with China and Russia, exactly what we had been trying to avoid. Putin’s summit with Xi and Modi was a stunning response to Trump’s misguided efforts to get Putin to be more receptive to his efforts at being nice.
Putin gave Trump a portrait which flattered the US president into thinking Putin was more of a friend. Does he really think relations between countries are based on the personality of the leaders? His support of Netanyahu’s disastrous actions has done little to help the tragic situation of the people of Gaza. His on or off policy on Ukraine has made the war more likely to continue. He actually appealed to Putin to help him win a Nobel Peace Prize!
His so-called peace-making efforts in various countries have been challenged by the countries involved. Their response has been that he had nothing or little to do with solving their problems. He seems to think his attempts are as good as successes.
MAJOR BREAKING: Donald Trump has shattered 50 YEARS of U.S. foreign policy – and the world is now more dangerous than ever.
It’s official: Trump has pushed Russia, North Korea, and even India – the largest democracy on Earth – into China’s arms.
Today, for the world to see,… pic.twitter.com/dOZiaf80xa
— CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism) September 3, 2025
His changing tariff policies have alienated many US allies and neutrals. Here too, he thinks he is doing a good job, but he is a lamb amongst wolves. Not only India, but Brazil and Canada have become centerpieces of distrust of America because of his use of tariffs often for poor reasons.
We can only hope that his tariff policies will not lead to a repeat of the effect of the Smoot-Hawley tariff of 1931. How will other nations trust us when our leader is a naive man who is isolating our country and making deals one by one that will mainly benefit Trump only. It is much easier to break a trust than to restore the relationship.
Paul Silverstone is the author of several books on naval vessels including a five-volume series covering all US warships from 1775 to 2007. His latest book “The Navy of the 21st Century” was published in 2024. He is a graduate of Yale University (BA 1953) where he majored in political science and international relations, and Harvard Law School (JD 1956) and for many years was in the travel business in New York City. In 2020 he moved from New York to Vancouver, Canada.
He does genealogical research on his extended family with particular emphasis on families from the United States, Canada, Poland and Ukraine. Paul was a member of the Executive Council of the New York Jewish Genealogical Society from 1996 to 2020 and was Treasurer from 2000 to 2007. He was the treasurer and board member of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) from 2009 to 2015.
"The Navy of the 21st Century, 2001-2022 (The U.S. Navy Warship Series)" by Paul Silverstone.https://t.co/cf8GEMBjhF
— Church and State (@ChurchAndStateN) September 10, 2025
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