Who is going to make America pay when it is dominant?

Alternatively, what is America going to do when nobody respects it anymore?

The US is in a much better position with debt and power than it will be net zero and ostracized

If American defaults on its debt it would absolutely destroy the economy. This is a really weird take

Yes, a default on the debt would be a terrible thing. Most American debt is denominated in USD. The US is monetarily sovereign, meaning it can always create more USD at will. This means that the US can only default on its debt voluntarily, which is exactly the type of economic catastrophe that Trump is doing his best to cause.

I'm not saying the US should default on the debt, just that it never, in practice, actually has to pay it back.

Well, the first thing is, he actually needs to cut costs. Which he has not.

As a student of Austrian economics and a proponent of actual fiscal conservatism, correct. The United States is monetarily sovereign and controls the world reserve currency. The biggest threat to our country is a loss of faith in the United States as a world leader, which Trump is doing his damnedest to facilitate.

Trump has added 7.1 trillion in debt, more debt than any other president in history.

Source: https://www.investopedia.com/democrats-vs-republicans-who-ha...

So who added the additional $28 trillion dollars? (Assuming what you say is true.)

It's in the link above, but in text format for those not willing to click: (source was from the US treasury department bureau of fiscal service)

Deficit under administration of: Republicans: Trump: +7.1T HW Bush: +2.2T W Bush: +2.1T Reagan: +1.7T Ford: +781.2B Hoover: +246.4B Nixon: +7.2B

Democrats: Obama: +5.6T Biden: +2.8T FDR: +1.3T Clinton: +614.4B JFK +194.8B Wilson: +191.9B

The rest of the presidents (D/R) - had net reductions in deficit.