Superlosers: How Trump and Putin Ceded Global Power to China

Historian Timothy Snyder has characterized Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin as superlosers, describing a specific type of leader whose personal rise to power coincides with the systemic collapse of the state power they command.

The classification comes as a counterpoint to Donald Trump’s frequent assertions of victory. In February 2016, Trump promised that his movement would win so much. By February 2026, he claimed the United States was winning so much that we really don’t know what to do about it, suggesting that citizens were pleading for the winning to stop.

Snyder defines a superloser as a leader of a great power, or a former superpower, whose decisions lead to a crash. According to Snyder, these individuals possess a specific combination of skills that enable them to acquire personal power while simultaneously causing the collapse of the state’s power.

The Five C’s of Superloserdom

Snyder outlines the phenomenon through five primary characteristics, which he refers to as the five C’s.

The first characteristic is conflict. Snyder points to disastrous wars in Ukraine and Iran as primary drivers of decline for Putin and Trump, respectively. These conflicts have weakened both leaders politically and damaged the global standing of their countries. The outcomes of these wars have revealed the limits of their military capabilities and resulted in the erosion of their diplomatic and economic positions.

The second characteristic is a broken concept of power. Snyder argues that both the United States and Russia betrayed existing power structures, which weakened their global reach. Russia historically maintained a balancing position between China and Europe, but the invasion of Ukraine destroyed its relations with the European Union. This shift forced Russia to increase its reliance on China, effectively turning the country into a satellite of China.

Snyder asserts that the United States has similarly betrayed its own concept of power. The hegemony that provided U.S. Dominance following World War II has been torpedoed by diplomatic errors and the conflict in Iran.

The third characteristic is corruption. Snyder claims that both Trump and Putin prioritize the needs of small oligarchical clans over the broader interests of their respective states.

If you can’t think in terms of the interests of your state, it’s unlikely that the wars that you start are going to make sense. And neither the war against Ukraine nor the war against Iran made any sense.Timothy Snyder

The fourth characteristic is cooperation between superlosers. Snyder describes this as a paradoxical relationship where the assistance provided between two failing leaders results in further loss. He suggests that Putin’s support helped Trump gain power, which in turn diminished the power of the United States.

Trump’s actions regarding Iran benefited Russian oil interests by increasing demand. However, Snyder notes that this removes Putin’s ability to blame the West for the failures of the war in Ukraine. Because the U.S. Is perceived as being on Russia’s side, Putin no longer has an excuse for his losses, making loserdom contagious.

The fifth characteristic is charisma. Snyder argues that a specific type of charisma allowed Trump and Putin to attain and maintain their positions of power. Once established, they used that influence to set their nations on a trajectory toward decline.

The Sixth C: China

Snyder concludes that these five factors lead to a sixth C: China. He asserts that both the United States and Russia are now ceding power to China and have become subordinate to it.

While the war in Ukraine pushed Russia deeper into the orbit of Beijing, Snyder argues that Trump lost a trade war with China. This loss, combined with the blowback from the decision to launch war in Iran, further empowered the Chinese state. Snyder notes that both Trump and Putin have recently had to pay court to Xi in Beijing.

Snyder observes that this shift is surprising because, objectively, China has faced its own decline and should not have been able to overtake the United States. However, he argues that the phenomenon of superloserdom has altered the global balance.

What it has done is allow the relative decline of China to be eclipsed by the absolute decline of the United States.Timothy Snyder