Trump is opening Brazilians' minds to the multipolar world

A Nexus research A survey released this Friday regarding Brazilians' views on the United States and China revealed a telling fact: the majority of citizens consider American leadership to be negative for Brazil, while Chinese influence is seen more positively. This shift in perception is a direct result of the aggressive stance of the current US president, Donald Trump, who, ironically, has played the role of the greatest propagandist for the new world order, that is, the multipolar world.

Historically, the United States built its global leadership not only through military or economic might, but also through soft power – the ability to attract and seduce by example, cultural influence, the ideal of freedom, the cult of prosperity, and the propaganda of liberal democracy. This is how the “American way of life” became, for decades, a model of aspiration for many nations.

However, Trump quickly managed to undermine this symbolic heritage. By transforming allies into adversaries, attacking multilateral organizations, and adopting a confrontational diplomacy with his own allies, he has been eroding the image of the US as a reliable power. Today, instead of being seen as defenders of democracy and free trade, the United States presents itself to the world as an erratic, belligerent, and deeply isolated power.

It was almost predictable that, in the current moment of imperial decline, a president of the United States would do so much for the multipolar cause. Instead of reinforcing American hegemony, Trump exposes its limitations and reveals its arrogance. By attacking Brazil and the European Union, antagonizing Canada and Mexico, pressuring Latin America, and picking trade fights with China, he demonstrates that the world can no longer depend on a single center of power.

The result is that even countries that traditionally orbited around Washington are beginning to seek new alternatives. In Brazil, as the research showed, there is a growing perception that China can play a more positive role in national development than the United States. This is a direct reflection of Trump's disastrous foreign policy.

The most curious thing is that Trump, with his nationalist and unilateral discourse, ended up unintentionally serving the Brazilian public debate. He is opening society's mind to the importance of the idea of ​​sovereignty and the fact that a multipolar world is not only possible, but necessary. A world in which the interests of emerging countries like Brazil are taken into account, instead of being subordinated to a power that no longer hides its disdain for its partners.

While there was once hesitation in challenging the supremacy of the dollar, today almost half the population supports alternatives to the US currency. While the BRICS were once seen as a distant prospect, they are now gaining increasing support as a strategic platform. This cultural and political movement is paradoxically catalyzed by the President of the United States himself.

Trump was elected promising to restore “American greatness,” but his legacy will be the exact opposite: the strengthening of multipolarity and the erosion of American hegemony. By losing allies and multiplying enemies, he transforms the United States into a declining empire – and opens space for Brazil and other countries to assert their sovereignty in a new world order.

Thus, contrary to his intentions, Trump is teaching Brazilians – and the world – that no one should blindly trust a single superpower. The present is already multipolar.