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London (CNN)This past week, on US President Donald Trump's watch Russia and China have effectively re-aligned the coming world order. They didn't do it together, but both took advantage of uncertainty and unpredictability that Trump has helped create. It's far from clear that the next US President will be able to roll back the consequences of this week, which leave both Presidents Vladimir Putin in Moscow and Xi Jinping in Beijing more decisively in control of their own countries and more able to act assertively. In other words, Trump has made an indelible mark on the world -- and it may not be for the good. It is no coincidence that Putin and Xi have cemented their grip on cherished goals, as the clock runs down on Trump's first, and possibly only, term in office. This past week, in a referendum on constitutional revisions so predictable that copies were on sale before the vote, Putin has effectively been made President for life, as Xi has moved equally ruthlessly, taking control of Hong Kong through a new national security law, while telling US allies Canada, Australia and the UK to keep out of China's internal affairs. As David Ignatius wrote in The Washington Post this week, Putin "is in the payback business. He believes the United States destroyed his former country, the Soviet Union. He likes the United States to feel pain." He now has plenty of years for more payback. According to White House deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews: "President Trump is a world-class negotiator who has consistently furthered America's interests on the world stage." Former senior US officials provided CNN contributor Carl Bernstein with a very different take. They thought Trump "delusional" about his ability to bend other leaders to his agenda, believing he could "either charm, jawbone or bully almost any foreign leader into capitulating to his will." But Putin "just outplays him," said one of Bernstein's sources. Trump's "fawning over authoritarian strongmen, his ignorance of history and lack of preparation" jeopardized US national security, Bernstein was told. Whether it's Putin's payback or Xi's decision to violate and chip away at the Hong Kong agreement signed with the UK in 1984, both leaders appear to see opportunities. Go back three years. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dropped into the Oval Office the day after Trump fired James Comey as FBI director. Comey was overseeing the investigation into allegations of Russian election meddling. An official Russian photographer caught the bonhomie, as Trump told his visitors: "I just fired the head of the FBI. He was crazy, a real nut job." Two months later, Trump met Putin -- alone -- on the margins of the G20 summit. The White House trumpeted the encounter as a success, highlighting a new ceasefire deal in Syria. The Russians cynically used the deal to freeze the conflict, allowing the Assad regime backed by Russia to pick off rebel-held areas one-by-one. [https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/05/politics/strongmen-world-order-trump-election-intl/index.html](https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/05/politics/strongmen-world-order-trump-election-intl/index.html)
London (CNN)This past week, on US President Donald Trump's watch Russia and China have effectively re-aligned the coming world order. They didn't do it together, but both took advantage of uncertainty and unpredictability that Trump has helped create. It's far from clear that the next US President will be able to roll back the consequences of this week, which leave both Presidents Vladimir Putin in Moscow and Xi Jinping in Beijing more decisively in control of their own countries and more able to act assertively. In other words, Trump has made an indelible mark on the world -- and it may not be for the good. It is no coincidence that Putin and Xi have cemented their grip on cherished goals, as the clock runs down on Trump's first, and possibly only, term in office. This past week, in a referendum on constitutional revisions so predictable that copies were on sale before the vote, Putin has effectively been made President for life, as Xi has moved equally ruthlessly, taking control of Hong Kong through a new national security law, while telling US allies Canada, Australia and the UK to keep out of China's internal affairs. As David Ignatius wrote in The Washington Post this week, Putin "is in the payback business. He believes the United States destroyed his former country, the Soviet Union. He likes the United States to feel pain." He now has plenty of years for more payback. According to White House deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews: "President Trump is a world-class negotiator who has consistently furthered America's interests on the world stage." Former senior US officials provided CNN contributor Carl Bernstein with a very different take. They thought Trump "delusional" about his ability to bend other leaders to his agenda, believing he could "either charm, jawbone or bully almost any foreign leader into capitulating to his will." But Putin "just outplays him," said one of Bernstein's sources. Trump's "fawning over authoritarian strongmen, his ignorance of history and lack of preparation" jeopardized US national security, Bernstein was told. Whether it's Putin's payback or Xi's decision to violate and chip away at the Hong Kong agreement signed with the UK in 1984, both leaders appear to see opportunities. Go back three years. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dropped into the Oval Office the day after Trump fired James Comey as FBI director. Comey was overseeing the investigation into allegations of Russian election meddling. An official Russian photographer caught the bonhomie, as Trump told his visitors: "I just fired the head of the FBI. He was crazy, a real nut job." Two months later, Trump met Putin -- alone -- on the margins of the G20 summit. The White House trumpeted the encounter as a success, highlighting a new ceasefire deal in Syria. The Russians cynically used the deal to freeze the conflict, allowing the Assad regime backed by Russia to pick off rebel-held areas one-by-one. [https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/05/politics/strongmen-world-order-trump-election-intl/index.html](https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/05/politics/strongmen-world-order-trump-election-intl/index.html)
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