Donald Trump could not help himself from being the Ugly American. He decided to call Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, to have the organization rescind the red card, which gets a player ejected from that game and the next game in the World Cup, so that Folarin Balogun, one of the top American soccer players, could play the next game against Belgium.
In December 2025, FIFA created an award, the FIFA Peace Prize, and gave it to Trump. Gianni Infantino presented the award. Thus, to no surprise, the red card was rescinded, and Balogun can now play against Belgium. At the time that this column is being written, the United States had not yet played Belgium. However, either way, America loses. If they beat Belgium, people will say that they won because the fix was in. In addition, any further advancement will be tainted because people will say that they should have never proceeded to the next round. If they lose, people will say that despite having the fix in, they still lost. If Belgium and any future opponent of the US team were not already psyched up to play the US team, Trump’s blatant interference has helped it reach a higher level.
Now on to my main topic. The British Empire, the Roman Empire, Ancient Greece, and Persia, at various times, were the strongest powers in the entire world. Many of them wielded immense power for hundreds of years. Yet today, they have ceased to exist or are shells of their past glory. There is no reason to think that, ultimately, the United States will not suffer the same result. The only questions are when and how.
No country has perfect leadership throughout its existence. The United States was fortunate that at two crucial times in its existence, it had the two greatest leaders: George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. If others of lesser stature had been in those positions instead of Washington and Lincoln, this country would not have come into existence, or it would not have survived as one country.
On paper, these were unlikely heroes. Washington was no great intellectual like others of his time, such as Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson. He was not a great military tactician. His one enormous success of crossing the Delaware and surprising the British soldiers in Trenton on December 26, 1776, is well known. What is not mentioned as much are his losses. He lost major battles, such as the Battle of Brooklyn, which included areas in Queens, on August 27-29, 1776, and was forced to retreat from New York City, leaving the British in control until the end of the war.
Washington’s greatness was that what he did was for the country and not for ego or financial benefit. He had a prosperous life in Virginia, no matter who was in power. By being on the side of the patriots, he was risking his money, his life…everything. He did not seek the position of leading the military but was asked to do so. He cared about his troops, many of whom came from a different socioeconomic background than his. He also listened to various viewpoints and realized that he could learn from them. He was the great unifier during the American Revolution, bringing disparate groups together to fight the loyalists and the British. He did the same after the war, when there was bitterness toward those who were loyalists and the growing pains of a new nation. It was not only Washington. There were great statesmen at that time, such as Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Alexander Hamilton. They came from diverse backgrounds and had different ideas, but all worked together to create a new country, first with the Declaration of Independence and then with the writing of the Constitution.
The second was Abraham Lincoln. He was a relatively inexperienced politician when the Civil War broke out. He was very thin and did not look the part of central casting for what a president should look like. Lincoln understood his limitations and surrounded himself with a skilled cabinet, including those who were rivals. This also showed unity in a time of disunity. He stood strong even when the war did not start out too well for the Union forces. There were those who were ready to cave and make a deal with the South. Lincoln acted in the best interests of the country and not in his personal interest. The pressure of the war aged him. His greatest speech, the Gettysburg Address, was short in words but strong in meaning.
The Founding Fathers created a government that contained checks and balances between the executive branch, led by the president; the legislative branch, led by Congress; and the judicial branch, led by the Supreme Court. The system has generally worked for the past 250 years because each group has stayed in its lane relating to its power and used the power given to it as a check on another branch.
We consider who is in charge today, and many lament how far we have fallen. In 250 years, we have gone from Washington and the other Founding Fathers to Trump, a do-nothing Republican-controlled Congress that is afraid of Trump and the next election, and a Supreme Court that has no regard for precedent set by a prior Supreme Court, even if it was longstanding.
It is ironic that at the time that the country is celebrating its 250th anniversary, Trump’s income is released. In 2025, he made $2.2 billion in income, his first year as president. Most of the money was in cryptocurrency-related businesses, which he changed his view of and has used the power of the presidency to support. This is not even considering his narcissism.
It is fortunate that the country is strong, so in the short term, it can survive the corruption and arrogance of the Trump regime and a feckless Congress. However, it is naïve to believe that the country can continue on this trajectory. We need leaders of character who are in it for the nation and not for their own financial and other interests. If we do not, we will join the ranks of other great nations that fell, a lot sooner than one may think.
Warren S. Hecht is a local attorney. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.