I don't like tariffs, but it appears that before the ink was even dry on your piece, both Canada and Mexico agreed to Trump's (not unreasonable) demands to shore up border security to prevent dangerous drugs/people from entering the US.

The question is, if previous American leaders had the ability to pressure allies to do things, why didn't they?

I think it's because we've had a bunch of (literally in the last case) asleep at the wheel sock puppet politicians who couldn't/wouldn't do anything unless someone pulled the string on their back.

After decades of feckless leadership (at home and abroad) we're now seeing efficacious statecraft. It's not pretty and I don't agree with much of it, but to quote Obama "elections have consequences."

For folks who just spent the last 8 years saying Trump threatens democracy, you have a choice to pull up your big boy pants and understand the consequences of losing an election to someone who promised to do exactly what he's now doing, or you have to start some kind of coup or civil war, which does not sound very democratic, to me.