Why the United States is the world’s fastest evolving brand

Make sense of what matters most in Washington. |

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.

The D.C. Brief By Philip Elliott Washington Correspondent, TIME Rebranding America Is Very On-Brand Ping-pong diplomacy broke the Cold War fever. In the United States, ping-pong policy followed, and more or less has set the course of what the nation stands for ever since. Today the United States is perhaps the most consistently evolving brand on the planet. For better or for worse, a lot of the United States’ posture hinges on what party’s leader is sitting in the White House. Every four or eight years, the incoming administration resets America’s policy priorities. When Democrats are in power, foreign NGOs are allowed to discuss abortion. When Republicans are in power, recipients of U.S. dollars had better keep their clams shut. When Democrats have the keys, big, multilateral agreements are the order of the day. When Republicans have the reigns, buckle in for very targeted agreements. Denizens of Washington are conditioned to this whiplash by the time the Inauguration scaffolding starts to go up on Capitol Hill. But rarely is it felt quite so acutely around the world as it is right now, as President Joe Biden starts to unravel the policies of former President Donald Trump. Biden’s long list of executive orders has returned the United States to a massive climate regime signed in Paris. He is letting foreign NGOs that receive U.S. money talk about abortion again. He has rejoined the World Health Organization, scrapped a ban on travel from majority-Muslim countries and pushed pause on deportations for those in the country illegally but don’t pose an immediate security risk. It’s part of the beauty and the freak-show that is American democracy. Voters decide every four years who wields the nearly-unlimited executive power of the U.S. presidency. With the results usually contingent on a few thousand votes in a small group of states, America’s global footing hinges on how a handful of folks feel on a Tuesday in November. Whether or not America believes in rising sea levels pivots based on a few precincts in Pittsburgh. Access to abortion in Albania depends on whether the College Democrats in Athens, Ohio, can activate the list. Whether the wall in Juárez remains may depend on who walks the West Wing Colonnade in the morning. So far, nine full days into office, Biden has signed 42 executive actions, most of them undoing steps taken by his predecessor. The pace is not unexpected for the early days in a presidency, but it’s a jarring reminder of just how much depends on who picks up a pen in the Oval Office. Four years ago, Donald Trump signed a slew of executive orders that unspooled moves by Barack Obama, who in his first weeks worked to reverse George W. Bush’s agenda. It's entirely predictable, and an important reminder that America's values are often based on one person's actions. It’s also a reminder that so much of what it means to be an American hinges on who U.S. voters send to Washington, especially the White House. As much as Americans want to believe there is a set standard about what Americanness is, it’s often a byproduct of a messy democratic process. Four years under Trump showed just how malleable it can be — indifference to Russian meddling, international isolationism on science, stern refusal on global trade. With Biden coming to power, it’s mostly a return to what came before Trump. But in four or eight or 12 years, it can just as easily go back. As we consider what America means, it’s worth remembering this: ping-pong can be fast, and unforgiving.   Share this newsletter

Here's what else we're watching in Washington Unity or Action? Biden came to power promising to weld America back together after four divisive years of Donald Trump. But he’s also coming to power as the clock is ticking down for small businesses desperate for help. TIME’s Brian Bennett and Alana Abramson consider Biden’s first week back at the White House and how his pursuit of unity lines up with the need for action.  Read More » The Battle Over Liz Cheney The reliably conservative lawmaker had seen enough and joined nine other Republicans in the House to vote for the impeachment of Donald Trump. As TIME’s Lissandra Villa reports, that choice from a daughter of a former Republican Veep now may put her spot in Republican Leadership in question. Read More » Ronna Romney McDaniel Has One of the Worst Jobs in Politics As the Trump era ends, the Republican National Committee Chairwoman has the most enviable of tasks. As The Washington Post reports, “she heads a party that has lost the House, the Senate and the White House under her leadership and is riven by infighting over whether she should defend Trump more forcefully — or at all.” Read More » US-Russian Nuke Pact Extended With a week to spare, Russian President Vladimir Putin signs a five-year extension of the last guardrail for limits on nuclear arsenals controlled by Washington and Moscow. The agreement comes as Biden and Putin are fiercely debating a host of other nettlesome issues on the post-Cold War agenda, as The Associated Press reports. Read More » Exit Interview Column: Rob Portman The Ohio Republican returns the call from The Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan as he announces he won’t run for another term. Washington, he says, is too toxic for him. “It really is something that we’re living in a time when ambitious people leave the U.S. Senate to get things done,” Noonan observes. Read More »

Want more from TIME? Sign up for our other newsletters. Subscribe to the magazine.

TIME may receive compensation for some links to products and services in this email. Offers may be subject to change without notice.   Connect with TIME via Facebook | Twitter | Newsletters   UPDATE EMAIL     UNSUBSCRIBE    PRIVACY POLICY   YOUR CALIFORNIA PRIVACY RIGHTS   TIME Customer Service, P.O. Box 37508, Boone, IA 50037-0508   Questions? Contact politics@time.com   Copyright © 2021 TIME USA, LLC. All rights reserved.