On December 8, 1919, English economist John Maynard Keynes published The Economic Consequences of the Peace, a fiery critique of how the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I would wreak economic and political havoc throughout the European continent. In effect, he predicted the chaos that would engender the Nazi state. The United States rebuilt Germany after the second world war because we learned this lesson. It is the reason the wealthiest nation in world history gives aid to poorer countries. Trump has never learned any lesson from history. He has never read a book.