From Stormy Daniels to John Bolton, the United States of America will not recover from the presidency of Donald Trump.

This is a bold statement, and in a literal sense, it is not true. The United States will exist long after President Trump either steps down after two terms, is defeated for re-election, or is otherwise removed from office.

But as a global superpower and the leader of an alliance of free nations, America will not soon — if ever — recover the same position of leadership it has occupied since the end of World War II. Bolton’s arrival is a harbinger not of war but of further chaos. He will be in a job no one wanted and for which he was chosen because of his repeated appearances on the president’s only pipeline to reality, Fox News.