America Is No Longer High‑Trust

Francis Fukuyama argues the United States has become a major source of global and domestic distrust because political behavior (he cites Donald Trump’s threats over Greenland) and institutional instability corrode both formal legal confidence and informal social capital. He frames Denmark as an exemplar of high-trust governance built on predictable institutions and civic virtue. — If true, declining trust reshapes foreign credibility, economic transaction costs, and the viability of democratic self‑government — making trust restoration a central policy and cultural project.