By Ramesh Bhan
New Delhi, (UNI) From MAGA (Make America Great Again) to MAGO (Made America Global Outcast).
This sums up the journey traversed by the United States during the past ten months. The argument that the US is increasingly becoming a pariah and its global leadership index is on downslide, cannot be denied.
G20 Johannesburg Summit was yet another snub to US President Donald Trump when South African President Cyril Ramaphosa refused the customary hand over of Summit Presidentship to a junior US official, saying he would instead put it on ‘’an empty chair’’ rather than give it to a junior US official.
US is to host the rotating G20 Summit in 2026.
Also, in a departure from Protocol, the Summit Declaration was unanimously adopted on the first day. Joint Declarations or Joint Statements are normally adopted after the Summit concludes.
The situation arose after the US President boycotted the Summit alleging that South African Black majority is ‘’persecuting’’ White minorities. South Africa denies the allegations.
The US had also pressured South Africa not to issue a Joint Declaration, saying Joint Declaration would be impossible without the United States. However, Ramaphosa hit back saying “We will have a Declaration. The talks are going extremely well. We will not be bullied. We will not agree to be bullied.’’ President Ramaphosa got the rest of the G-20 to agree to a Declaration despite American threats.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the world will move on without the US. Carney told a press conference on Sunday at the Summit “It’s a reminder that the center of gravity in the global economy is shifting.”
“The world is reorganizing itself. You could see it here (at the G20 Summit) that new connections are emerging,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said at a press conference on Sunday. “The US has played no role in all of this. I don’t think it was a wise decision on the part of the US to be absent.’’
South African paper Sunday Times, on November 23—the concluding day of the Summit, in a front page article headlined ‘’Bloody Nose for Trump,’’ said ‘’G20 Summit agrees to final Declaration against express wishes of US President, with insiders saying European leaders were angered by absent superpower’s ‘disrespectful’ behaviour.’’
President Trump’s boycott of the Summit turned to be a big advantage for India. In the absence of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who also did not attend, Prime Minister Modi hogged the headlines. India has been a clear winner amid all the developments.
At the Summit, India, Brazil and South Africa revived their BRICS bonhomie with a meeting between the leaders of the three countries. Prime Minister Modi held meetings with more than ten world leaders on the margins of the Summit including the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and UK. The three countries also launched a new partnership to develop emerging technologies. This was a clear indication that India is increasingly assuming leadership role.
The rare bonhomie between between Prime Minister Modi, Russian President Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting at Tianjin in China, also stole global headlines. India was seen as part of the power triad. The US was clearly not happy. Trump himself admitted that US had lost India to China.
India had scored a point and has been scoring since then. Sanctions imposed by Trump on India, China and Russia also have failed to produce the desired result. All the three countries refused to be cowed down.
The attempt by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to revive the Russia-India-China (RIC) platform is yet another confront Trump’s politics of dominance.
It is a reality in international relations and geo-politics that all countries are inter-dependent. No country can afford to work in isolation, however, powerful it may be. India has understood the strategy very well and that is why it refuses to take any particular side. Sadly, Trump refuses to acknowledge the reality. That explains why almost all countries bat for multi-polarity and multilateralism.
The Johannesburg downslide was not President Trump’s first diplomatic fiasco. Immediately after he took over as POTUS for the second time in January 2025, his statements and decisions angered and alienated many world leaders including his staunch allies. Canada, for example, and NATO countries, have started treading cautiously in relations with the US.
Canada was the first country to publicly admonish the US after President Trump suggested that Canada should become the 51st State of the US. “Canada is a proud, independent country and has no plans to give up its sovereignty,” Canadian Prime Minister’s Office said.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford reacted to Trump’s proposal saying “To the President (Trump), I’ll make him a counter offer. How about if we buy Alaska? And we’ll throw in Minnesota and Minneapolis at the same time?” Former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said ‘’there isn’t snowball’s chance in hell.”
President Trump also asked the NATO member States to increase their Defence spending to 5 per cent of their GDP or else he would impose tariffs on them. However, Spain refused. The European Commission and Spain’s government dismissed the threat to impose higher tariffs on Madrid. Even though most NATO governments have agreed to increase the defence spending to 5 percent of their GDP, many countries are unhappy.
Trump has also consistently maintained that he has ended eight wars in eight months, Including India-Pakistan war in May 2025.
A fact sheet—India vehemently denies that Trump was involved in any way in stopping the war. Ukraine war has been going on for the last nearly four years with no clear end in sight despite the Alaska meet between Trump and Putin and Trump’s 28-point peace plan. Gaza war is on despite Trump’s claims of peace and ceasefire. It is, therefore, obvious that despite claims to the contrary, Trump’s claims have been hollow.
Trump’s demands for Nobel Peace Prize have also been criticised. Even the White House made a formal demand for the Nobel Peace prize for Trump. However, the coveted award remained elusive.
MAGO is increasingly becoming a reality.
