Meme Sahib: Trump laughs away Chinese humiliation as critics unload on flippant President

TOI correspondent from Washington: Stunned by the display of Chinese geo-political savvy and military heft, mortified Americans, particularly in the strategic affairs community, are unloading on MAGA supremo Donald Trump for taking America back to the 19th century while rest of the world, mainly Asia, marches forward.

Images of bonhomie among leaders of China, Russia, and India, and Beijing's military might showcased in its WW2 victory parade is dominating geo-political discourse in the US, alarming many analysts who are now asking if the global balance of power has shifted decisively and if America has been eclipsed.


Footage of China's impressive military parade, with state of teh art hardware, evoked immediate comparison with Trump's embarrassing birthday parade in June under the guise of celebrating the Army's 250th anniversary.

The event saw uncoordinated US military personnel shuffling past the President and yawning aides, bored spectators, and amid limited military hardware, a squeaky vintage tank trundling past the White House in images critics said are worthy of a rag-tag military from a poor Third World country.

The discussion between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on longevity and life expectancy, caught on a hot mic, triggered one analyst into a rant about Trump's own health, rumors about which have been aggravated by the President's recent musings about going to heaven.

David Rothkopf, a national security analyst and commentator on the Daily Beast, said the discussion was an apt metaphor that illustrated how Asian leaders are looking ahead and saying they have a future, while Trump and his regressive policies are taking America back to the 18th and 19th century.

Earlier this week, the US President sent out campaign fundraising emails with the subject line: “I want to try and get to Heaven” soliciting $ 15 contributions. It was one of several instances in recent days when he has invoked going to heaven, including joking one time that he currently stands quite low in the totem poll.

"Meanwhile, the US is run by a desiccated old felon sex trafficker racist and his military is run by a drunken frat boy idiot who can't even organize a parade. It's sad!" Rothkopf raged

"How did we get here?" is the question that is ringing through the strategic community as analysts are zeroing on not just Trump's mental acuity, but also his physical well-being following a series of bizarre statements and social media posts that many see as petulant and infantile.

Amid fervid debate about America's future and its place in the world, the US President blasted out a series of memes on Thursday ridiculing his domestic political opponents while talking up his MAGA vision. Among the memes was one showing Illinois governor JB Pritzker and former New Jersey governor as sumo wrestlers, and another caricaturing California Senator Adam Schiff with an elongated neck. In a third, he taked of revoking the US citizenship of Rosie O'Donnell, among several tv personalities who are critical of the President.

While Trump talked up a resurgent America on his watch amid infantile memes on social media, the headlines are uniformly bleak, some forecasting the demise of western power because of the US President's blunders -- among them, punishing India because of his frustration with Russia. John Mearshimer, a political scientist affiliated with UChicago and a known critic of US foreign policy, said in one interview that Trump's tariff had backfired badly and his India policy is a colossal blunder.

But from the President's social media feed -- a meme showing the him dancing, with a caption that read: "Trump is right about everything."