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Donald Trump didn't invent American decline, but he has accelerated it with a fury and recklessness that will echo across the century.

There have been many presidents in American history who made mistakes. There have been weak presidents. There have been corrupt presidents. There have been presidents overwhelmed by events.

But there has never been an American president who has waged such sustained warfare against the sources of American strength itself.

Donald Trump is the author of American self-harm.

He's the vandal of American power.

While America convulses in madness, instability, corruption and grievance, the leadership of Communist China waits with patience and discipline as the balance of power tilts eastward.

The Chinese understand something that too many Americans refuse to see: empires rarely collapse because they're conquered from abroad.

They collapse because they rot from within.

That's what is happening to the United States of America.

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The 21st century began with America standing alone atop the world.

The United States possessed the world's strongest economy, military, universities, reserve currency, scientific institutions, technological ecosystem, alliance network and cultural influence.

No rival came close.

The United States accounted for nearly a third of global economic output after the Cold War. American universities dominated scientific research. Silicon Valley defined the digital age. NATO represented the greatest military alliance in human history. The dollar ruled global commerce. America's word mattered.

Today, all of that is under strain - not because China became strong, but because America became stupid.