Looking at Trumpism as the ‘greatest show on earth’

Returning to MBO

In the first week of the Trump administration, a number of government spending areas have been frozen. New regulations have been stopped. Steps have been taken to starve Ukraine of arms, and ESG and other green policies reversed. Border security has been reinforced by the military, two genders restored within federal jurisdictions, censorship by government abolished, troops recalled from Europe, and the US withdrawn from the World Health Organization (WHO). Civil service employees have been called back to work in their offices, and assistance given to the disaster areas of North Carolina. Pardons have been given to those involved in the J6 incident.

Trump’s policies are all objective based. The cabinet will most likely be run by Trump, playing the role as a chief executive, where all secretaries will operate their departments based upon specific objectives to meet the MAGA mission. This will be a radical change in the way cabinet conducts its business.

Foreign Policy

Trump is a firm nationalist in foreign affairs, following along the lines of Reagan. He is primarily concerned with the direct interests of the United States, especially within the western hemisphere. The early issues of Greenland and Panama are reflective of this.

US foreign policy will be primarily concerned about returning American manufacturing back to the United States. The idea of global corporations, where manufacturing is undertaken in one country, and customer service is outsourced to another country, is contrary to the Trumpian view of US industry.

Trump will be much less ideological, and focused on the practicalities of the MAGA mission. Trump may not be as concerned with containment as a doctrine, where Russia and China will be allowed their spheres of influence, as long as the western hemisphere is not contested by others.

There is some evidence to support the above hypothesis. Up to 20,000 troops have been recalled from Europe and Trump is insisting NATO countries spend 5.0% of their GDPs on defence, as the Trump administration doesn’t want to continue subsidizing European defence, especially where Trump sees that Europe has poorly handled the Ukraine issue.

Challenges Ahead

There are numerous challenges ahead for the Trump administration that could jeopardise its mission.

The world is now a much different place than it was during his first term in office. All the major actors have changed, as well as the situations they may want to engage Trump in. The US economy is structurally very different, which may require a major rethink of the MAGA-mission. The nature of work has changed, and many more families have slipped into relative poverty. It may not be as easy to create more jobs as the MAGA mission has promised. Bringing America back to its former glory might be more of a dream rather than an achievable mission. The United States has lost its primacy, technology leadership, and position as the largest economy in the world.

These realities have never been espoused by Trump, and in the future results, or lack of them, could easily become his Achilles Heel.