Let’s check the calendar: with over 1,300 days left in Trump’s new four-year term, many Americans are already feeling the strain. The sense of exhaustion is palpable – and entirely understandable.
Trump’s feats of self-enrichment almost defy belief. If David Copperfield could make a Boeing 747 disappear, Trump could make it reappear in his own pocket – especially if it was a “gift” from Qatar. Yet such sleights of hand pale in comparison to his real magic: manipulating news cycles to create lucrative investment opportunities for himself, most notably in the wild west of cryptocurrencies. The American intelligentsia is growing uneasy, including The New York Times: “Trump Profits Like No Other President, as Outrage Is Muted”
Recent coverage suggests that, in just a few months, the Trump family and its business partners have raked in $320 million from a new cryptocurrency, sealed multibillion-dollar overseas real estate deals, and launched an exclusive Washington club called “The Executive Branch” with a $500,000 membership fee—likely just scratching the surface of their latest financial ventures. And that, one suspects, is only the tip of the iceberg.
But the real issue is not simply Trump’s audacity – it’s the system that enables him. How has he managed to become so untouchable, so brazen in his disregard for the rule of law? The answer lies in America’s own constitutional DNA. Montesquieu, the French philosopher, famously observed that the difference between monarchy and despotism is the presence of checks and balances. America may not have a king, but it has certainly perfected the machinery of unchecked power.
A revealing article on the American Institute in Taiwan’s Chinese-language website, “On Democracy: The President’s Power,” lays it bare:
“Anyone who reads Article II of the Constitution is immediately struck by the fact that it spells out the mechanism for electing the president in great details, but says very little about the president’s powers once in office. There are no specifics, for example, about how the president is to give orders to the heads of departments, how he is to control the various branches of government, or how he is to remove officials.”
In other words, Trump is operating with almost no real oversight. With the Republican Party controlling both houses of Congress and the White House, America is experiencing what political insiders call a “trifecta” – a recipe for unchecked executive power.
According to the article, the president “may veto acts of Congress, either on constitutional or policy grounds, and his veto cannot be overturned without a two-thirds vote to do so in the House and Senate.” The article further explains that “the most important checks on the president involve the ‘auxiliary precautions’ of impeachment and removal for ‘high crimes and misdemeanors.’”
However, the article also notes that “the American constitutional system does not contemplate removal for losing the confidence of the legislature (such as is implied in losing a vote of confidence in a parliamentary system).”
Moreover, “a president is impeached (equivalent to being indicted) by a majority vote of the House of Representatives, thereafter he is tried in the Senate, with the Chief Justice of the United States presiding.”
But even the Chief Justice, in this era, is seen as being within Trump’s sphere of influence. Add to that Trump’s mastery of social media – which has allowed him to sidestep traditional media gatekeepers and drown out dissent – and you have a president who is, for all practical purposes, untouchable. Who, then, could possibly ignite a “Dump Trump” movement? Most have simply chosen to wait out the next 1,300 days.
What kept previous presidents in check was not just law, but a sense of honour – a moral compass. That compass, it seems, is now broken. John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of United States, often opened his speeches with a warning:
“The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who in time of moral crisis preserve their neutrality.”
This, in essence, is how a society descends into chaos: when morality collapses and the world looks away.
The turmoil in America today is not just Trump’s doing – it is the tragic, inevitable fate of a fading empire.
Deep Blue
** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **
Trump's talking up his China visit next year with all the enthusiasm of a dealmaker closing a big one. Fine. But the thing is: America's got to pick between two paths ahead. Either Washington works with Beijing to uphold a genuine international order—not the selective "rules-based" playbook the West loves to cite—or it rallies the old imperial gang for an "Empire Strikes Back" scenario across the Asia-Pacific.
Two days back, China's carrier Fujian slipped through the Taiwan Strait. First time since commissioning. The Fujian isn't just China's third carrier—it's the first one designed, developed, and built entirely in China, and it's got electromagnetic catapults. That's not just hardware. That's a statement.
Then, Washington green-lit $11.15 billion in arms sales to Taiwan—the biggest weapons package to the island in U.S. history. The Pentagon's spin? The sales "serve “U.S. national, economic, and security interests by supporting the recipient’s continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability." China's Foreign Ministry didn't mince words today: U.S. arms sales to support (Taiwan) independence will only backfire on itself.
Okinawa Radar Games
Meanwhile, the U.S. and Japan are making their big moves. On December 15, Japan's Ministry of Defense signed a land lease deal to deploy mobile radar on Okinawa's easternmost island—all to track Chinese carriers and aircraft operating between Okinawa and Miyako islands. Beijing's spokesperson fired back with a pointed question: Is Japan creating incidents and engaging in close-range provocations to provide cover and excuses for its own military expansion? Is it following the track of right-wing forces down the evil and dead-end path of militarism?
Here's something worth to note: Japan's an old imperial power too. And it was once a major carrier nation.
Back in September, the U.S. military website Army Recognition broke the story that China's first nuclear-powered carrier, the 004, is already under construction. When foreign media pressed China's Defense Ministry on whether "China is building a fourth aircraft carrier and whether it will be nuclear-powered," the spokesperson played it cool: they "do not have specific information."
But as the saying goes: God is in the details. Expert analysis suggests the PLA's aiming to go toe-to-toe with America's supercarrier USS Gerald R. Ford. The 004 nuclear carrier is expected to displace somewhere between 110,000 and 120,000 tons with a length of 340 meters—outclassing the Ford-class at 100,000 tons and 337 meters. The 004's projected to carry over 90 aircraft, beating the Ford's roughly 75.
Twenty-Five Years, Three Carriers
What can you call a miracle? Everyone knows aircraft carriers were the domain of major industrial powers from the early 20th century, taking a full century of development to achieve dominance over the seven seas. Here's some context: China purchased the Varyag in 1999 and started refitting it at Dalian Shipyard on April 26, 2002. On September 25, 2012, it was officially renamed Liaoning and entered service. China went from zero to carrier capability in just 25 years. Are Chinese carriers really viable? That's the question many netizens keep asking—mainly the ones from Japan.
The great architect and Bauhaus pioneer Ludwig Mies van der Rohe summed up his life's work by pointing out that architecture lives in the details. "Precise details and vivid vitality can create a great work," he said. Flip side? Sloppy details destroy order and rules—as terrifying as the devil himself.
China's carrier success reflects its industrial achievements and excellent execution capability—rooted in outstanding historical traditions. Look at the infrastructure built during the “Spring and Autumn” and “Warring States” periods: the Qin Speedway, Dujiangyan, Zhengguo Canal, and the Great Wall. You'll quickly realize that Chinese culture goes way beyond mere "craftsmanship." What's the difference? Strategic vision combined with meticulous attention to detail.
Trump's Details Problem
Trump doesn't sweat the small stuff—but he can't establish himself through integrity either. Take the Nobel Peace Prize, for instance. Today's world isn't the world of 200 years ago. America's current situation looks exactly like Spain's futile attachment to the Americas back then. But perhaps it's even worse, and this comes down to details: U.S. carrier aircraft repeatedly lose wheels during takeoff, and there have been incidents of accidentally shooting down their own planes in the darkness.
Postscript: Don't know what you're thinking, Trump. But if you want to fight, you've got to get the details right first—especially quality control. A superpower can't be this sloppy and disorganized, yeah?
