Ignatius: The Rest of the World Is Preparing for the Prospect of Four More Years of Trump

EXCERPT:

IGNATIUS: “Well, Mika, I was trying to think of how leaders around the world, focusing on the Wednesday night debate, are reacting. Certainly I heard a lot last weekend in Munich, comments that suggested that people are getting ready for the possibility that the Democrats simply won’t be able to unify around a candidate that can beat Donald Trump and that they have — the world has to get ready for the prospect of four more years. You already begin to get a sense of that, to hear it in comments that people make, this sense of the United States moving away from its traditional positions, not likely to come back anytime soon. You see people hedging their bets. I see that among European countries. I see it with the Saudis and the Emirates in the gulf, beginning to talk more to Moscow, beginning to talk more to China, beginning to get ready for a different world. You could sense French president Macron thinking, 'Gosh, with the Americans leaving and every likelihood that Trump will be the president for another term, how do I make a bigger impact in a Europe that's looking for leadership?' All these changes in motion obviously we’re early in the election campaign, we don’t know who the Democrats will pick. It's too early to make final judgments. I just want to note that the rest of the world is already beginning to think about this, Mika, and beginning to make decisions.”