Listened to the keynote speech at IIF by the US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. It was a very good speech, solid in both its substance and its form.
Secretary Bessent talked smoothly, almost too smoothly. While nodding along with what he was saying, I was caught in a bit of surprise by his definition of “America First.”
He characterized it as “not America alone, but collaboration with others.”
While that might represent a sound policy direction, it significantly distorts the actual meaning of the phrase “America First” intended by President Trump.
I’m not a big fan of Trump’s “America First” doctrine, although I do understand what Trump actually means and am very sympathetic to his intentions.
However, Bessent’s overly polished (or cunningly tactful) redefinition of “America First” might indicate something more concerning about his true beliefs.
This redefinition feels like a switch masked under ambiguity. One could argue that the redefinition has substituted the original idea with something diplomatically better; however, one cannot credibly claim that this new definition accurately represents what Trump’s “America First” truly means or stands for.
Perhaps Bessent can be praised for skillfully using euphemism for better diplomacy, but what he said is just not true. It is a misrepresentation. It is just as bad as the grossly distorted, slanderous understanding of the same phrase by the Chinese media, which literally suggests that “America first” means America must step on the heads of others in everything. They come from opposite directions with opposite intentions, but both are bad because both are untrue.
There are three different shades in the interpretations of Trump’s “America First”, but Bessent’s is not among them:
1. A neutral and mutual interpretation: “America First” is only an example of a diplomatic principle for all sovereign nations, standing that each nation must put its own national interest first in international relations.
2. An assertive American-centered interpretation: “America First” means that America leads, and other countries are expected to follow.
3 A more humbled and pessimistic interpretation: “America First” means that America must save itself first before it can effectively help other nations (the swimmer’s motto).
Objectively, America currently exists in a state analogous to a quantum superposition of these three states: 1/3 in State 1 (mutual), 1/3 in State 2 (assertive), and 1/3 in State 3 (humbled). If the trend of the last 25 years, especially that of the previous four years, continues, however, these proportions will soon run away in one direction, collapsing to a single state of the humbled State 3, and could even ultimately deteriorate into a whole new state, a humiliated state. (See The American reality; and The American addiction and the trade war)
For that, one can only hope that this administration achieves what it aims to do.
Secretary Bessent is both intelligence and knowledgeable. But coming from a background of Wall Street, which really is a major part of what has created the current condition of a weakened American middle-class and impoverished young and future generations, does he really know what is actually killing America? When the real conflict manifests itself in the American system, will he choose the Wall Street or the Main Street, or better yet, the folks on the No Street?
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