Yet even if Trump cares little about the preferences and well-being of others abroad, Americans have selfish reasons for wanting to see democracy in the world survive and expand. More democracy makes Americans more secure and more prosperous.
First, our closest and most enduring allies have been and are today democracies. Democracies are the allies who go to war with us, vote with us in the United Nations, support international treaties and norms that serve our interests. Democratic allies are those most willing to provide for our common defense, be it providing support for our missile defenses against a possible North Korean attack, sharing intelligence with us to fight terrorist organizations, or implementing sanctions with us against Iran or Russia to advance our shared security objectives.
Second, our enemies are and have been dictatorships or political movements espousing anti-democratic ideas. In the 20th century, dictatorships in Germany, Japan and the Soviet Union directly threatened American national security. Every war we have fought has been against autocracies — Germany, Italy, Japan, North Korea, North Vietnam, Iraq, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Libya. Never has a democracy attacked us. Today, not all dictatorships threaten the United States, but every entity threatening the United States is a dictatorship or a movement — such as the Islamic State, Al Qaeda or the Taliban — committed to anti-democratic ideas.
Third, the consolidation of democracy after the fall of autocracy enhances American security. The construction of democracies in Germany, Japan and Italy after World War II firmly entrenched our alliances with all of these countries. During the Cold War, the United States partnered with autocrats to contain communism. Yet transitions to democracy in Portugal, Spain, Taiwan, the Philippines, South Korea, Chile and South Africa did not, as predicted, hurt American strategic interests, but instead served to nurture deeper, more lasting relationships.
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