American foreign policy under Trump was unpredictable, due to the man on golf cart’s capriciousness and his ongoing conflicts with his own administration. Some of Trump’s admirers have identified this in retrospect as an asset. If you’re Putin or Xi, they say, you don’t dare do anything that would trigger the crazy cop. The invasion of Ukraine is just one example of something that wouldn’t have happened if Trump had been in charge, according to them.
In reality, the crazy cop approach to foreign policy is likely to result in allies who choose to go their own way. The EU, for example, is not a larger version of Lindsey Graham; it isn’t going to change positions on a dime just to stay in line with Trump. More of our friends will seek nuclear weapons in lieu of counting on a thoroughly unreliable and self-absorbed ally. The result will be far more instability in the world, not less.