Overview
- During a Dec. 17 Oval Office address, President Trump declared, “We are respected again, like we have never been respected before.”
- On Dec. 30, Mona Charen published an open letter in The Bulwark asserting that the president confuses respect with fear and fixates on eliciting praise.
- Charen argued that performative gestures and provocative proposals have made the U.S. a target of mockery, citing ideas such as a “Gulf of America,” absorbing Canada, and seizing Greenland.
- She also criticized efforts to attach his name to established honors, saying he cannot borrow esteem from institutions like the Kennedy arts center.
- Raw Story summarized and emphasized Charen’s critique, characterizing it as a mockery of the president’s “thirst for respect” and highlighting her claim that U.S. prestige has eroded.