As you say it is only four years down the drain.
But I and many others have lost a lot of respect for the American people who have voted in to office, some one, of such bad character.
However from a liberal British and European point of view ,neither the Republicans nor Democrats have acceptable international nor domestic policies.
For years America has been living as a debtor, to the cost of the rest of the world, and living off their wealth and resources.
Only recently has it's hegemony been challenged. China, is now rapidly overtaking the USA in almost every metric. The East and South, together, now dominated world trade and supply chains.
It is inevitable that the isolationist policies of Trump, will further weaken the USA. It's people will become increasingly poor. This will by default weaken other countries that have close ties with them.
It will become increasingly apparent to many nations that their interests are better served by closer ties with China and the South. American extortionate higher costs will price themselves out of the world trade markets, and no one will want, or be able to afford their goods and services, nor to continue to trade in the US dollar.
Higher Tariffs will discourage bidirectional trade with America, and higher American prices will prevent American companies selling to the world.
BRICS or it's successor, will develop into the defacto world trade organisation, and trade will be conducted in both local currencies, and a new settlement currency based on a basket of currencies and gold.
America may have the opportunity of joining with and adopting such a settlement and trading currency arrangement. But it's hegemony will end.
This will probably take more than four years to be completed, but is becoming increasingly evident that this is now inevitable.
