In an interview with New York Times last week, US President Donald Trump mused that his powers as commander-in-chief were constrained only by his “own morality,” and international law and other checks had no effect on his ability to invade and coerce nations around the world. These are only another manifestation of his growing tendency towards authoritarianism.The developments of last week related to Venezuela, Greenland and the US departure from dozens of international organisations. At the same time, he threatened Cuba, Colombia, Mexico and Iran. And we are not even into the first half of the first month in 2026. In 2025, recall, Trump had cut a similar swathe joining Israel in an undeclared war against Iran, attacking vessels in the Caribbean and bombing Nigeria and Syria.The new Donroe doctrine is quite forthright: Might is right. On Greenland he declared last Saturday “ Right now we are going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not. If we don’t do it the easy, we’ll do it the hard way.”Trump has been clever by half. By declaring the country is in danger, he is able to insist that his actions are self-defence, aimed at protecting the US, whether it is on the issue of drugs, immigration or the abduction of Maduro, or the plan to seize Greenland.Meanwhile within the country his Immigrations and Customs Enforcement department is running berserk. Last August, at a cabinet meeting where he decided to deploy the National Guard to Washington, he declared, “I have the right to do anything I want to do. I’m the president of the United States. If I think our country is in danger, and it is in danger in these cities, I can do it.” His deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, has been more blunt. He told CNN last Monday that a new era had been inaugurated where “We live in a world, in the real world, that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power.”Trump has pushed migrants into camps, sent the National Guard to Democratic cities and tried to overthrow the government in 2020. He has gutted the bureaucracy and intelligence services. Through his firings and misuse of the justice system to harass those who have disagreed with him, Trump has revealed himself as vengeful, vain and narcissistic and is likely to inflict great damage to the US and other countries.Meanwhile countries close to the US have been left bemused. India has gamely sought to keep a low profile despite a succession of provocative actions and statements by Trump and his acolytes. New Delhi has gone out of its way to soft-pedal Trump ventures like the attack on Venezuela and chose to condemn the attack on Iran only through the SCO.If India is adopting “strategic patience” to its US policy, Europe’s only option has been “strategic supplication”. This is evident from the non-reaction of most European countries to the kidnapping of the president of a sovereign country and taking control of its key assets. In the past year, the Europeans have sought to allay Trump’s concerns on military spending by raising defence expenditures. Most of them quickly compromised on the tariff issue. But this has only made it painfully obvious of the extent to which European security still depends on the US.The problem for Europe is that the Ukraine war has deepened their security anxieties with regard to Russia. In these circumstances, they are helpless as the US tightens the screws on Denmark on the issue of Greenland. The fact that European leaders picked up courage to come up with a carefully worded statement on Greenland may actually give Trump reasons to pause. Because it is almost certain that any kind of a forced acquisition of the Danish territory could mean the end of NATO. Neither the Europeans nor the US want that.While many across the world look at US actions as promoting isolationism and encouraging the division of the world into spheres of interests, the reality is that Trump’s world view is self-serving and actually aimed at cementing US hegemony. He refuses to bind himself to any limits in relation to his power, but neither is he really tied down to any theory. So, yes, he may insist that the Venezuela and Greenland actions are related to the new Donroe doctrine, but his action elsewhere point to other goals.For example, despite bailing out on a number of UN bodies and international organisations, Trump has not taken the US out of the UN Security Council or the UN General Assembly. Neither has he questioned the role of the US in two other UN-related organisations – the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Clearly, he sees their geopolitical importance in maintaining US global primacy.Also read: The Trump Corollary and VenezuelaFor this reason, he is likely to stay on in NATO to use it as a lever to check Russian ambitions in Europe. Contrary to impressions, he is not about to abandon the Europeans to the Russian wolf. Not out of generosity or empathy, but out of concern for the advantages the US derives from its European connection in terms of trade, investment and job creation.In a similar manner, he is unlikely to shed the US role in the Indo-Pacific. Getting countries like Japan, Australia, the Philippines, along the first island chain, to hem in China, the US remains in a dominant position and is able to further its interest vis-à-vis Beijing. This includes access to Taiwan and its high-tech capabilities, as well as to prevent China from controlling the sea lanes of the region. And by the way, he has managed to coerce Japan and South Korea to make huge investments in the US.As for China itself, Trump has no doubt that the US views it as his primary competitor, but last year he was taught a lesson when Beijing imposed sanctions on rare earths and magnets stymying the US. So the approach to Beijing exhibits a degree of caution.What is the place for India in this scheme of things ? Not much. The Quad’s careful posturing with regard to China is not something that Trump cares about. India has taken a cautious approach that prevents the Quad from emerging as a military grouping. The question often asked in Washington is: What does India bring to the US table ? In the short term, the only time horizon Trump cares about, is: nothing. Neither its military capacity, nor its yet-to-take-off economy has anything ready to offer Trump. Not that he has asked for anything specific, except unfettered access to the Indian market.Also read: The US Empire’s Venezuela Decapitation Strike: The Trump Corollary in ActionTrump is aware that he is shaping a new US strategy, but he does not view the country as one in decline. Indeed, the way he is working is to make it leaner and more durable. His call to increase the US defence budget by an astonishing 50% to $1.5 trillion, is a clear indicator of that, as is his constant celebration of US military prowess, especially its capabilities in the fields of AI, space defence and cybersecurity. This and his actions in relation to Venezuelan oil and in promoting AI in the US are all aimed at maintaining US hegemony.Unlike the past when this hegemony was exercised through a mixture of soft and hard power, the Trump style is to use blunt force as an instrument of policy. By mixing its interventionism with issues of democracy and human rights, the US often succeeded in the past. Now, it is probably a matter of time before global politics kicks back.Manoj Joshi is a distinguished fellow, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi.This piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire – and has been updated and republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click here.