Wow, have any of you watched President Trump's speeches in Riyadh? Boldly calling out Wahhabi terrorism, while inviting the entirety of the Middle East to step towards progress. This followed on the heels of the de-escalation of India-Pakistan through quick negotiations driven by the US.

President Trump is truly going down as the greatest President in American history–possibly the greatest world leader ever. I never thought I’d say that. The older parts of me that once saw him as Hitler are aghast as I write this. But here we are.

Winston Churchill had a similar arc. When he came to power, the elite establishment despised him. And now he’s remembered as the savior of Western civilization. Was he perfect? Absolutely not. His racist hatred of Indians and orchestration of the Bengal famine still roil my blood.

And yet—was he a crucial leader in stopping Fascism (actual Fascism) from taking over the world? Without question.

But back to President Trump. What a beautiful, bold vision: using trade as a tool for peace, not war. As he himself said—and sure, he congratulates himself a lot—but in a culture that labels self-recognition as narcissism, I get it. When you’re pulling off outlandish, deeply criticized ideas that actually work, who else is going to celebrate you? I think he deserves the credit he gives himself.

And honestly, I’m just astonished to be alive at a time when peace between nations no longer requires internal “civilization” within each one. We all know the problems with that approach. We've all lived through the irony of wars to establish democracy and other prior attempts to "civilize" "barbarians" and where that leaves indigenous cultures. If world peace depended on domestic perfection, we’d never get there. A transactional model that honors sovereignty might not be romantic—but it may be what allows pluralism, dignity, and peace to coexist on a global scale.

The Return of Realism—and the End of Moral Empire

In some ways, this was always the core pitch of Classical Liberalism (of Adam Smith and co.): that the interdependence fostered by international trade reduces the likelihood of war. This is just a more pragmatic pathway to that same goal—where nations don’t need to share the same values to live in peace.

Perhaps the economic incentives to stay competitive in a peaceful global market would require even despotic rulers to foster individual creativity at home—nudging every nation toward liberal democratic ideals, not through imposition, but through internal evolution. Xi Jinping bringing Jack Ma out of hiding is the best example of this.

And yes, I know there are people who still say they feel unsafe under Trump. I hear that. But feelings aren’t the whole picture. In a world where inflation is dropping, borders are stabilizing, and global peace is advancing—there’s something deeper going on than just emotional discomfort.

And frankly, the level of self-absorption I sometimes see in these responses is wild. If your strongest political take is that you feel unsafe, while the world is literally becoming safer—that’s not oppression, that’s misattunement. And it hurts the person holding it more than anyone else.

Masculinity, Misandry, and the Poison of Hatred

This is honestly one of the best examples of masculine directionality I’ve seen in my lifetime—and even after reading so much history, it’s just phenomenal.
Trump is one of the strongest Masculine role models alive right now.

That doesn’t mean he’s perfect—who is? But one of the subtle ways misandry hides today is in this instinct to dismiss men entirely for any perceived flaw. In many parts of our culture, the presence of imperfection is used to justify the total erasure of a man’s virtues. And when I see someone do that—man or woman—it just shows me where unconscious misandry is still operating.

Trump hatred, in that sense, is a poison. And it’s most corrosive to the person who harbors it. Especially for men. Because it keeps them from finding their own integrity, discipline, direction, and creative power. When you bring a brother down, you stunt your own ability to access what that brother represents in you.

And for women, it’s a different kind of wound. A woman in May 2025 who still cannot acknowledge any of President Trump’s strengths—I say this with a heavy heart—is deeply entangled in a hatred of masculinity.

And there are good reasons for that. In a world where fathers and grandfathers routinely rape daughters and sons–highlighting just the most heinous variety of a wide range of abuse–these reactions aren’t irrational. But they are tragic, nevertheless.

And so I end with a prayer—for those who hate, for those who’ve been hurt, for those still carrying ancient grief in modern armor:

May we grieve without destroying.
May we heal without hardening.
May we remember what’s good in each other,
especially when it’s easier to forget.