I don’t usually write about partisan politics on this blog but I’m making an exception to share what we heard about President Trump during our recent 6-week trip in Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.
When people first learned we were American, they were invariably polite. If we asked what they thought about our president, they usually avoided answering. But when we assured them we really wanted to know, without sharing our own opinions, we got an earful.
Why did Trump launch a war that was raising energy prices, they asked us. Why did he impose so many tariffs? Doesn’t he know or care they’re struggling to support their families?
Why does he treat America’s friends so rudely?
And most frequently: Why is the United States supporting Israel as it kills Muslims in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran and elsewhere? We heard this last one repeatedly, especially in Malaysia and Indonesia, which have complicated relations with the Middle East but are nonetheless Muslim-majority. We saw war news often on our hotel televisions, like this one in Indonesia.
As I wrote in my last post, most people in these countries don’t follow every twist and turn in American politics. They are more focused on their own lives. But everyone we met was aware of the Iran conflict. Some of them, like the Malaysian taxi driver I recorded in this video clip, were following it closely. If you listen to the audio, you’ll hear a vastly different narrative from what Americans are told on CNN, much less Fox News.
Champa and I have gotten used to hearing such criticisms. We decided after the last election to spend more time outside the United States and we’ve been on the road a lot since then. No matter how far we’ve traveled, though, we can’t escape the chaos back home.
We toured the Balkans with the five Brazilian guys you see in the above photo. We initially avoided discussing politics with them but, as we got to know each other, they shared their concerns. These were well-traveled, educated men with moderate viewpoints but they all were disturbed by the recent turn of American policy. They expected Brazil to strengthen its ties with China as a result.
At a ceremony in Frankfurt to commemorate the 35th anniversary of German unification, above, the chorus sang “We Shall Overcome” and other songs that celebrate tolerance and diversity. I struck up a conversation with a local doctor holding a candle near us in the plaza and she said she was sad to see these values under attack in the United States.
We visited the southern Caribbean shortly after the United States invaded Venezuela. A guide in neighboring Curaçao, above, told us the invasion had hurt his business. Tourists were avoiding the region, he said, which meant fewer tips for him.
We returned home from Asia shortly before President Trump traveled to China to meet with Xi Jinping. I’ve been wondering since then what people in Taipei, like those we saw praying at a temple, think of the reports that Trump may now be hedging on American military support.
All of us who live in the United States have felt this administration’s actions most directly, whether the issue is immigration, health care, inflation or something else. But make no mistake: The rest of the world is affected, too. They don’t understand why America has changed. They worry about what’s happening to us and fear what it means for them.
I’ll conclude with a final photo, of Ari, the Indonesian driver who accompanied Champa and me across much of Java. He works incredibly hard and barely ekes out a living, even with the generous tips he gets from tourists like us. He sleeps in his car to save money. Now he’s facing rising fuel costs. Ari is among the many millions of people across his country, and billions more around the world, whose lives have been affected by our country’s actions. In Africa and other places that relied on USAID, the result has sometimes been deadly.
As I wrote in my last post, traveling abroad has reminded me that the United States is not the center of the universe. But its impact is still profound. We Americans remain capable of being a true world leader and of helping others, as I saw in the Peace Corps. But right now we’re flailing, and the ripples are churning in every direction.
Top photo: Historical diorama at the National Monument (Monas) in Jakarta, Indonesia.
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