Who will miss Donald Trump? The world leaders with the most to lose if Joe Biden wins US election
- Nations like Turkey, North Korea and Israel will face major challenges from exit of most ‘unconventional’ US president in modern times
- A Biden victory, on the other hand, could prove more of a mixed bag for China and other countries
If Donald Trump is forced from the White House in the November election, he will not be the only loser.
Though many governments would be likely to celebrate the end of the most unconventional and at times chaotic US presidency of modern times, others will have reason to miss it. For the leaders of Turkey, North Korea and Israel, the ledger has been almost entirely positive. Trump’s ejection would confront them with immediate challenges.
The scorecard for countries such as China is more nuanced. Even so, what the mostly authoritarian winners from Trump’s four years in office have in common is a fear his departure would spell the return of a more conventional US foreign policy.
That could see the US mending alliances and promoting the universality of values such as democracy and human rights, or the fight against climate change. “This president embraces all the thugs in the world,” Trump’s opponent Joe Biden said at a recent town hall event, as he sought to highlight the political divide.
North Korea’s Kim Jong-un
No relationship with the US changed more under Trump than North Korea’s. What began with mutual threats and insults morphed into a sometimes bizarre love-in as Kim and Trump met three times and exchanged more than two dozen letters, showcasing their “mysteriously wonderful” chemistry.