--- title: Donald Trump Is Existential Threat to America and the World description: As a citizen, I am concerned about what a Trump presidency would mean for our future. canonical: https://time.com/4560742/donald-trump-existential-threat/ author: Jonathan Granoff article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-07T19:19:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T01:40:06.612Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Donald Trump Is an Existential Threat to America and the World og:description: 'Truth matters in the real world' og:url: https://time.com/4560742/donald-trump-existential-threat/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33daf1a046dd9c6b/6988ad525f570f9d49b232df/donald-trump1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Donald Trump, 2016 Republican presidential nominee, gestures as he speaks during a campaign rally in Moon Township, Penn., on Nov. 6, 2016. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Is an Existential Threat to America and the World twitter:description: 'Truth matters in the real world' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33daf1a046dd9c6b/6988ad525f570f9d49b232df/donald-trump1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Is an Existential Threat to America and the World by [Jonathan Granoff](https://time.com/author/jonathan-granoff/) ## Jonathan Granoff Nov 7, 2016 7:19 PM UTC  Donald Trump, 2016 Republican presidential nominee, gestures as he speaks during a campaign rally in Moon Township, Penn., on Nov. 6, 2016. Donald Trump, 2016 Republican presidential nominee, gestures as he speaks during a campaign rally in Moon Township, Penn., on Nov. 6, 2016.Bloomberg via Getty Images by [Jonathan Granoff](https://time.com/author/jonathan-granoff/) ## Jonathan Granoff Nov 7, 2016 7:19 PM UTC By invoking a return to an imaginary past and ignoring reality, Donald Trump is putting at risk a sustainable future, not just for America and its economy, but for the very survival of civilization. As a citizen, not in my official role as president of the Global Security Institute, I am concerned about what a Trump presidency would mean for our future. Truth matters in the real world; it does not matter as much in reality television. There are very pressing threats to human survival that can only be addressed with clear-eyed realism. Seeking to make America great while risking destroying the world is hardly a viable approach to our future. Here are two issues that affect every person on the planet, recognize no borders and cannot be solved by America alone. **Climate Change** More than [50% of our oxygen](http://earthsky.org/earth/how-much-do-oceans-add-to-worlds-oxygen) is supplied by the phytoplankton of the oceans. The effect of climate change could be far more disastrous than flooding of coastal cities, disruption of agriculture, spread of tropical diseases, local resource wars and social disruption caused by collapsing economies. It could raise ocean temperatures and change the oceans from alkaline to acidic, and, by disrupting the ability of phytoplankton to generate oxygen, in effect, suffocate humanity. Trump has [denied](http://time.com/4509488/donald-trump-climate-change-hoax/) the clear science on this issue. **Nuclear Weapons** There are more than [15,000 nuclear bombs in the world](http://www.icanw.org/the-facts/nuclear-arsenals/). Only nine nations have them. If [less than 1%](http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/11/opinion/dhanapala-helfand-nuclear-famine/) were to explode, throwing tons of debris into the stratosphere, the earth’s agricultural capacity will be so adversely impacted that we would starve. Trump, rather than showing a clear understanding of this threat, has [suggested](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-japan-south-korea-might-need-nuclear-weapons/) proliferating nuclear weapons to Japan and South Korea. Hillary Clinton recognizes these real issues and focuses on their human consequences, especially their immediate impact on woman and children. She also recognizes that we have a duty to future generations. In this election cycle, which has been filled with ugly name calling, she has not always put forward programs to adequately address these existential threats. But is she capable of addressing them? Absolutely. This election will affect generations to come. We should consider their interests, too. Trump seems incapable of remembering a policy he suggested a few days ago and readily contradicts himself. Can we expect him to champion policies for a sustainable tomorrow? Entertainment, like dessert, in reasonable amounts, will not cause much harm. But driving a real car on a real road with an imaginary map will lead to catastrophe. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4560742/donald-trump-existential-threat/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4560742/donald-trump-existential-threat/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Is an Existential Threat to America and the World","datePublished":"2016-11-07T19:19:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:40:06.612Z","description":"'Truth matters in the real world'","url":"https://time.com/4560742/donald-trump-existential-threat/","keywords":["politics","world affairs"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33daf1a046dd9c6b/6988ad525f570f9d49b232df/donald-trump1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jonathan Granoff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jonathan-granoff/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33daf1a046dd9c6b/6988ad525f570f9d49b232df/donald-trump1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump, 2016 Republican presidential nominee, gestures as he speaks during a campaign rally in Moon Township, Penn., on Nov. 6, 2016.","caption":"Donald Trump, 2016 Republican presidential nominee, gestures as he speaks during a campaign rally in Moon Township, Penn., on Nov. 6, 2016.","creditText":"Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/politics/","name":"politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4560742/donald-trump-existential-threat/","name":"Donald Trump Is an Existential Threat to America and the World"}}]}] ```