Don’t read too much into it.
It's unfortunate both the article and comments instead only talk about the most polarizing interpretations rather than look into the story.
It’s an embarrassment
It's been this way my entire (relatively long) life. The only new thing that is the last couple decades brought the internet where many of us can learn about what's going on out there.
Do you think that a 55 year old farmer in Ohio, USA gives a damn about the the rest of the world?
People are just getting by for the most part.
About a quarter of the population of the USA is either first-generation or second-generation American.
Very few other countries have as much of a connection with the rest of the world.
I would argue that in many cases, American foreign (incl trade) and domestic (incl fiscal) policy have a greater impact on other countries' economies than do their own respective heads of state/government. Whether you like it or not, the strength of the relationship with the US is a major factor for the prosperity of many nations.
I think this is a big part of why people like Bolsonaro and Netanyahu use Trump's imagery when they campaign. Externally, it signals receptiveness to US interests. Domestically, it signals prosperity and security.
Also, the USA exports its culture to the rest of the world via TV, film, music, and the internet. Politics is a natural offshoot of that.
Some countries circulate US currency. Others peg their currency to the dollar. Petrostates do business in the dollar because that's the base currency for crude oil trading.
A substantial portion of the US views the US as a train wreck too, maybe even a majority.
Just read through the 2016 Trump Presidency thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12907201
And the DNC strategy leaked in Wikileaks: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cwy_92NWEAAwyqe.jpg:large
Quoting comments:
> Trump won because the Democrats railroaded their best candidate in favor of someone who is profoundly unlikeable and untrustworthy. Regardless of if she is truly a criminal, or not, the Democratic party choose a candidate who is under investigation by the FBI instead of a candidate that had real honest to god connection with the working people of the country. The voters have literally said that even Trump is better than what the Democrats have tried to ram down their throats this election. This election was lost, not won.
I think we all would have been singing a different tune at this time if Hillary Clinton was the president. Remember, she lost by a small margin, and I really truly blame her for the complete mess. She trusted the polls too much, didn't raise empathy for people and she hadnt got the charisma of Obama to win people. Hillary even had the popular vote.
The course of history, and consequently the tunes of non-Americans and Americans' view of America would be different if small perturbations in short term had not caused profound changes in the outcome of history.
NZ press would be praising Hillary in one way or the other. It is simply that powerful.
Assuming a future President Biden even knows where he is when he meets those world leaders. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/12/its-fair-...
Really interesting see how the Bernie Bros felt on the subject: https://www.reddit.com/r/WayOfTheBern/comments/cpfrfg/if_dem...
Except that it wrecks the credibility of the advisory message.
NZ borders are currently closed [1].
And even if you could somehow get in it's one of the safest places to be given their strong response.
US issuing a travel advisory is a joke...on multiple fronts.
[1] https://www.immigration.govt.nz/about-us/covid-19/border-clo...