I’m often fond of saying that nothing surprises me anymore. Although my  capacity for disgust remains, wars, rumours of wars,  state executions, invasions of sovereign territories, etc., none of those truly rattle me. 

Given my world-weary cynicism, to say at my age the world still disappoints is a strange statement. Yet that’s how I felt this morning when I read this:

President Trump indicated on Thursday evening that he will meet with María Corina Machado, Venezuela’s opposition leader, next week in Washington, after refusing to support her to lead the country following the U.S. seizure of Nicolás Maduro.

Ms. Machado has tried to ingratiate herself to Mr. Trump and earlier this week offered to give him the Nobel Peace Prize she was awarded last year. Mr. Trump has long coveted the award.

No matter how Machado tries to spin it, this craven, servile offering to the emperor can only be interpreted with extreme distaste, but spin it she has:

On Monday, Ms. Machado said on Fox News that presenting the prize to Mr. Trump would be a token of gratitude from the Venezuelan people for the removal of Mr. Maduro. She had previously dedicated the award to Mr. Trump.

Mr. Trump said in the Thursday interview that “it would be a great honor” to accept the award, adding that it was “a major embarrassment to Norway,” where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded, that he had not been given the prize.

Such fluffing of the monstrously egotistical Trump can only lead to more horrors, but so far that is stopping no one from feting him thus. He has already said that he will be the final arbiter of what is right and wrong. 

President Trump told The Times during a wide-ranging interview …that he alone was the arbiter of his authority as commander in chief. He brushed aside international law and other checks on his power to order the U.S. military to strike or invade nations around the world.

When asked if there were any limits on his global powers, Trump said: “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.” 

It was the most blunt acknowledgment yet of Trump’s worldview: that national strength alone should be the deciding factor when nations’ interests collide. Past presidents, he suggested, have been too cautious with American power.

The world is now awash with toxic arrogance. To fan the flames of such is only to invite more death, more destruction, and more steps toward world domination.