In an interview with the Guardian, Graydon Carter said “the sad thing is that in two months, [Donald] Trump has made [the US] the enemy of the world. If there was another 9/11 this week, I don’t think the world would rush to support us in the same way.”[1]
Carter is far too modest in that passage. Europe now knows all too well where it stands with the Trump administration.[2] With Trump’s transparent attempt to force Canada to accede to the U.S. with tariffs,[3] he has turned the tide in Canada’s upcoming election back in favor of the Liberal Party, largely on Canadian fury.[4]
So who would support the U.S. in the event of another 9/11? I’d say Russia but Vladimir Putin has his hands full with Ukraine. Putin would have to set aside has now-widely acknowledged imperial ambitions to help “us” and while I can’t rule it out, I most certainly can’t rule it in. The autocracies in the Middle East whom Trump has courted would surely have to contend with domestic opinion appalled by U.S. support for Israel in its genocide against Palestinians.
It's unlikely Trump cares. We spend so much on “defense,” he probably thinks we don’t need the world’s sympathy. But we have stumbled—badly—in every war of any consequence since World War II, largely on account of just such hubris. Trump’s foreign policy is every bit as bankrupt as his casinos.
[1] Graydon Carter, quoted in Rachel Cooke, “Journalist Graydon Carter: ‘If there was another 9/11 this week, I don’t think the world would rush to support us,’” Guardian, March 30, 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/mar/30/journalist-graydon-carter-if-there-was-another-911-this-week-i-dont-think-the-world-would-rush-to-support-us
[2] Andrew Roth, “Stunning Signal leak reveals depths of Trump administration’s loathing of Europe,” Guardian, March 25, 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/25/stunning-signal-leak-reveals-depths-of-trump-administrations-loathing-of-europe
[3] Katherine Doyle and Vaughn Hillyard, “Trump suggests he could use military force to acquire Panama Canal and Greenland and 'economic force' to annex Canada,” NBC News, January 7, 2025, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-suggests-use-military-force-acquire-panama-canal-greenland-econo-rcna186610
[4] Mickey Djuric, “Trump vs. Canada: Prime Minister Carney calls snap election to take on president,” Politico, March 23, 2025, https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/23/canada-carney-snap-election-trump-00244196