Wu Guangqiang jw368@163.com DESPITE his stubborn refusal to concede defeat after Joe Biden declared victory in the 2020 presidential race and his desperate attempts to overturn the 2020 election, which are unparalleled in U.S. history, Donald Trump will be leaving the White House on Jan. 20, 2021, ending his four-year presidency. As a rule, every leader will leave a legacy, whether it be good or bad. Presumably, Trump’s legacy will be the most controversial. His supporters may defend his four-year political career by referring to his 70-million-strong voters in his re-election campaign, arguing that the votes he won even exceeds the ones Obama got in his election as president in 2004. They think highly of his achievements in boosting the American economy which sustained a stable growth during his tenure. Had it not been for the unexpected pandemic, his supporters argue, Trump would have beaten Biden with ease. His “America First” slogan has great appeal to his loyal fans, who see him as a gallant warrior fighting for the interests of America. His opponents, on the other hand, call him a liar, one who has kept telling lies about almost everything since he became the host of the Oval Office, and a destroyer, who successfully dismantled in a mere four years the super-machine his predecessors spent over 200 years constructing. The super-machine is the most powerful nation itself built on time-honored principles, systems and institutions, and the world led by the U.S. in accordance with American values and rules. Four years after Trump took office, America is deeply divided and the world is shattered. As an American put it, “Trump’s biggest legacy is his abolition of the legacies of his predecessors, that of Obama in particular.” Trump himself seems to be enjoying that reputation. From the Chinese point of view, I can’t find a more appropriate word than “toxic” to describe his legacy. In my opinion, little credit will go to Trump when it comes to the economic growth that happened to appear in his presidency. It was Obama who gave a push to American economy, which kept the momentum during the Trump period. Trump did not have a magic wand other than to slash taxes and lower interest rates, which any president would do. Even though he did make a small contribution to economic growth, it is nothing compared to the massive and long-lasting damages he has done to his own country and the rest of the world. First of all, as an individual, he should never have been a politician, let alone a head of state, as he lacks every quality a leader needs. He has zero integrity, honesty, faith, respect for others and dedication to his nation and people. He treats the nation and the world as his personal belongings and deals with the state and world affairs like a Mafia boss. He takes pleasure in achieving his goals through deception and coercion. He treats international treaties and agreement as rags, annulling them one after another. He has left his country with huge deficits of credit. As a result, much of the world now regards America as an unreliable country. He flagrantly interferes with China’s internal affairs and recklessly plays Taiwan and Hong Kong cards in an attempt to contain China’s rise. Unabashedly disdainful of international conventions and codes, he bullies Chinese businesses and sabotages official and unofficial ties between the two nations. He treats his own people even worse. Acting like a wayward, selfish and egotistical teenager, he tackles his routine work by tweeting tens, or even hundreds of times a day, and sadly, most of them are lies, rants and groans. He shows cold indifference to the health and lives of his nationals as he has never taken the COVID-19 pandemic seriously. Even with over 14.72 million infection cases and 284,000 deaths at present, he has never paid attention to experts’ advice, nor has he taken any effective measures. Instead, he keeps playing down the threat of the virus and bragging about his “know-all” legends: the virus would go away with warm weather, and drinking disinfectant could cure the disease. One of his die-hard followers even threatened to behead Dr. Fauci, America’s top expert on infectious disease. Such a perverted narcissist will be remembered as a disgrace of America. (The author is an English tutor and freelance writer) | 