Trump’s Anti-Growth Agenda
The Atlantic argues that Donald Trump's current economic policies threaten the long-term global dominance of the United States. The article draws parallels between the decline of the British Empire and the potential risks of abandoning free trade and high-skilled immigration.
Why it matters
It highlights the debate over whether protectionist economic policies undermine a nation's superpower status and long-term growth potential.
When a superpower’s economy lags, hegemony becomes unsustainable.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Bettman / Getty. July 14, 2026, 6 AM ET Share Save In June 1897 , Great Britain, at the apex of empire, organized an elaborate pageant celebrating Queen Victoria’s 60 years on the throne. The industrial revolution had turned a small island nation into an economic and military superpower. The writer Rudyard Kipling, one of imperialism’s greatest apologists, was asked to contribute an ode for the queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Yet far from boasting about the empire that Kipling adored, the poem he wrote imagined its eventual end. “Far-called, our navies melt away; / On dune and headland sinks the fire,” he wrote. “Lo, all our pomp of yesterday / Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!”
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