(The cartoon is original from The New Yorker. The cartoonist is Paul Noth. All rights belong to Mr. Noth and to The New Yorker.)
The Trump Presidency is living up to its billing and more. He did promise 'change,' didn't he? Despite Trump's Presidency 1.0 experience, people still are not ready to believe in what he is capable of. There is no way an American President will side with a Russian dictator! There is no way an American President would dump its Western ally in a war and change sides on a dime! There is no way an American President so openly asks the embittered country to sign their valuable minerals away, and that too, to the businesses associated with the President himself! And there is no way an American President openly threatens DEI initiatives, and voila! the DEI initiatives of corporate America just vanish!
And all this happened in the first two months of the Trump administration!
President Trump's maverick style of functioning has left commentators and pundits dizzy. The chutzpah of his Presidency was not entirely unexpected; it is still breathtaking nonetheless. For the last few decades, especially during the Reagan era, the American Presidency has devolved into a mixture of backroom dealings and front-end PR marketing/management. This approach was successful to an extent as well. The American President is portrayed not just the leader of his own country but of the entire world. He (and it has to be a 'he'!) is a leader of a 'Free world,' whatever that means. And he is the only one who can save the non-free world from being non-free! There is a huge difference between a 'world power' and a 'world leader'. In this increasingly multi-polar world, it is quite tough and in fact, counter-productive, to be a world leader. But I guess the PR campaign of being a 'world leader' was too good for its own good. The American President drank their own cool-aid too much. For example, President Obama, who was given the Nobel Peace Prize within a month of assuming his Presidency, started lecturing the rest of the world as if he was talking to kindergarten kids. If you notice his tone and his way of interactions as he progressed into his second term, President Obama became increasingly patronizing in his manners. Both Republicans and Democrats are the culprits of riding on a high horse, but Democrats always came out haughty, especially when dealing with non-Western and non-Muslim nations. Perhaps, while playing the role of a 'world leader', these Presidents lost touch with their own countrymen? Democrats undoubtedly did lost the sight and were caught completely flat-footed in the last election against the onslaught of Trump's campaign.
President Trump upended the Presidential campaign customs by doing away with various campaign tactics and ushering the petty strategies like name calling and relying on theatrics. This maverick approach has worked for him two out of three times. He is now employing the same tactics in dealing with international geopolitics. For example, he straightaway asked Hamas to come to the table and release the hostages or face his wrath. And Hamas promptly obliged. Now, an argument can be made that truce negotiations were already in play from the time of the Biden administration. Still, the reality is that during the Biden administration, the war continued to rage, while, a truce was signed even before the ink dried on Trump's inaugural invite cards. As if this sort of bravado was not enough, he doubled down and proposed a completely radical and rediculous 'solution' to the Gaza issue. The proposal is indeed laughable. But it's hard to know when Trump is bluffing. In any case, that laughable proposal put enough pressure on Hamas not to re-engage in stupidities.
A similar situation is unfolding on the Ukraine front. The war has been raging for years already. During this time, no one ever talked about peace or a truce. The shenanigans at the White House that Trump and his deputy, Vance, unleashed may shockingly lead to peace on the Ukraine front. That does not mean the deal will benefit Ukraine. There are very few positive options for Ukraine in this situation. And despite not being an aggressor against Russia, they are likely to lose part of their country. Especially given the Trump administration swiftly changing the course of action. From the Trump administration's perspective, they will not militarily support and fund the war on behalf of the EU. It could be a wise decision for US, at least in the short run. Not a great outcome for Ukraine but an outstanding result for Russia.
On the tariff front, Trump is keeping his word. Overall, the tariffs do not help anyone. Having said that, the reality is, most of the middle-American populace did not benefit from the currently structured international trade. Manufacturing jobs have essentially vanished from the US, literally stolen by Chinese government by indirectly subsidizing manufacturing in China. The Americans are left with being consumers, funding Chinese economy and embolding Chinese military aggression. In such situation, a pushback was but natural. The so-called left-liberals of Democrats did not effectively address this issue with the populace. Moreover, the earlier establishment did not even attempt to hold China accountable for its actions. The Trump administration seems to radically change this situation by imposing a very high tariff against China and effectively positioning China as the country's numero-uno adversary.
I am not arguing that all the steps taken by the Trump administration are logical. A good number of those decisions and steps sound crazy, and some of those decisions are certainly going to backfire spectacularly. The administration is still in the post-poll honeymoon period to worry too much about any sort of repercussions. The electoral pushback will happen in subsequent local elections. However, the alacrity with which the Trump administration is trying to fulfill the electoral promises assures that the world order will be rearranged.
But the veneer of the American President being a cigar-chewing alien-fighting fighter pilot has taken a hit. The image of an over-the-top, unhinged, rambling, side-shifting President changing world order will stick around for a while. Good for us, Obama was just too nauseating.
