[notahacker]

> The issue is that in dealings with other powers, it doesn't seem the rest of the world exercises the same standards.

Sure, Europe not boycotting a competition and continuing to trade with Russia are exactly the same thing as US government officials parroting Kremlin lines after cosy chats with the one foreign leader the POTUS will not condemn, and even rocking up in Europe to campaign for the election of Putin's closest allies! Reality is Europe (and historically the US) trade with dictatorships out of some combination of commercial interest and necessity, the present day US has moved towards publicly fawning over dictatorships them whilst condemning the values of European democracy.

Actually when it comes to continuing to maintain cordial relationships and trade with belligerent superpowers who display open hostility to our values and human rights and even drop hints of threats towards our territories, Europe is generally pretty consistent. It's one reason why we're not boycotting the World Cup and still regard the US as a necessary partner in most things...

> When you keep doing those sorts of things - things which have fundamental impacts on the world order and on your domestic economies - making Trump the hill you die on just seems stupid.

China murmurs about invading Taiwan, the US openly threatens to annex a Danish territory, and even Americans who don't like Trump wonder why we're not following their instructions (not their example) to boycott China!

Part of the reason the damage to US soft power is likely to persist beyond Trump is the increasing evidence that his "Europe bad" worldview is not an aberration...