As details emerged from the indictment charging former President Donald J. Trump with mishandling classified documents, global reaction ranged from strategic silence to unbridled outrage, with room in between for world-weary shrugs, wild conspiracy theories and ominous predictions of American decline. China’s propaganda machine, which would normally leap on a U.S. scandal, stayed quiet. Russian commentators called the charges a fake production of the “deep state.” And among American allies in Asia and Europe, there were concerns that the episode hurt not just the former president, but also the United States by highlighting that security secrets were not safe in America’s hands, and that the country’s disorienting, partisan fever has yet to break. “The case shows once again that Donald Trump belongs behind bars, not in the White House,” Ralf Stegner, a German Social Democrat who sits on the German intelligence oversight committee, said in a text message, adding: “This man is a threat to security and democracy in the U.S. and around the world.”The world, it seems, is once again gawking at the messiness of the United States and calculating the costs and opportunities of the latest Trump revelations transfixing and dividing the country. It is a moment that feels familiar yet not quite the same.

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Persons: Donald J, Trump, Donald Trump, ” Ralf Stegner, gawking Organizations: German Social Democrat Locations: U.S, Asia, Europe, United States, German