Trump’s imaginary victories

THE torrent of far-out policy moves that Donald Trump has announced during the first month of his second presidency has left pundits struggling to find method to the madness.

Some say it is all a negotiating tactic: Trump starts by staking out an extreme position, so that he later has space to exchange “concessions” with the other party without giving up anything valuable. They point to Trump’s 1987 book, The Art of the Deal, which encourages readers to “do things that are bold or controversial” (though there is no guarantee Trump has even read the ghostwritten work).

This interpretation aligns with the common characterisation of Trump as a “transactional” leader – one who makes deals that produce short-term benefits, without regard for longer-term considerations related to credibility, ethics, democracy or the rule of law. There is just one problem: He has demonstrated far more reckless bluster and hasty reversals than strategic thinking.