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It’s a toss-up which is most remarkable: (a) how much of the federal government Donald Trump has altered, in some cases destroyed, a mere three months into his second presidency; (b) how he’s done so while knowing so little about the subjects at hand; or (c) how he still delusionally seems to think he knows quite a lot.
The roller-coaster tariff ride has been the most hair-raising. Most economists dispute Trump’s view of tariffs (that they will cut inflation, will revive American industry, and were responsible for the wealthiest era in U.S. history), but many have held off saying so, not wanting to damage their careers and hoping that, in the end (as has often been the case so far), Trump will back off from imposing harsh fees before the deadline and cut some innocuous trade deal with the alleged offender instead.
But in other areas where outcomes are clearer (ending a war, settling a peace, or trying but failing to accomplish either), Trump’s record to date has been no less bizarre—frenetic yet frameless, crammed with grand but unfueled ambitions.
These include, most notably, the Russia-Ukraine war; the multiplex tensions in the Middle East, including how to halt Iran’s progress toward an atomic arsenal; and how to deal with geostrategic challenges from China.
Honest disagreements can be had over all of these topics, in terms of what goals to pursue (e.g., the type of ceasefire in Ukraine, the kind of relationships generally with China, Russia, and alliances in Europe and Asia) and how to go about pursuing them.
However, Trump hasn’t figured out either the what or the how. In some cases, he expresses two contradictory goals, not so much because he detects the ambiguities in international politics but because he doesn’t know how to go about getting done what he’d like to do—or seems bewildered that other powerful leaders aren’t just acceding to his wishes out of friendship or respect.
During the 2024 campaign, Trump said many times that he would end the Russia-Ukraine war on Day 1 of his presidency, probably even before he was sworn back into office. He even prereleased an outline of his peace plan. He seemed su...
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