So, while Trump has been busy doing his usual bit – alienating allies, threatening NATO, and basically gaslighting every country in the planet, BRICS went from a five-country side project to a ten-member economic monster that now includes Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the UAE, and Indonesia. Nearly half the world’s population is now hanging out in a club that actually wants more friends – while the U.S. keeps flipping everyone off.
BRICS is an economic and political alliance originally formed in 2009 by Brazil, Russia, India, and China, with South Africa joining in 2010. It was created as a counterweight to Western-dominated institutions like the IMF and World Bank. The group focuses on trade, investment, and creating alternatives to U.S.-led financial systems.
BRICS now controls around 41 percent of global GDP (PPP) and is stacked with top exporters of oil, gas, food, and minerals. While Trump is out here saying NATO allies don’t deserve protection unless they cough up more cash, 44 countries are literally asking BRICS for an invite.
The big swing came at their Rio summit, where BRICS greenlit an alternative to SWIFT – the main system for international payments. Russia’s already got tech to tie it together.
Translation: a fast track for de-dollarization. Considering 90 percent of currency trades still touch the dollar, Washington should maybe quit chest-thumping long enough to notice the ground shifting.
Trump’s counter-move was peak subtlety: threatening 100 percent tariffs on any country that dares to try a BRICS currency. Because nothing screams “global leadership” like mafia-style economic threats. And BRICS, of course, plays it cool, insisting they’re not anti-West – just offering “options.”
The U.S. could have managed this. Instead, Trump treated allies like punching bags, waged trade wars that jacked up prices at home, and gutted NATO credibility. Now BRICS is creeping toward a post-American system while the U.S.
The dollar still rules – for now. But every tantrum, tariff, and NATO threat is basically a BRICS recruitment ad. Trump didn’t just alienate our allies. He helped build a coalition of countries who would love to see the US be toppled.