Daniel Greenfield has written an impressive yet concise analysis of President Trump’s negotiation approach. It’s plain that the Trump System has evolved over his decades in real estate and other commercial involvement, but in American politics at the federal and international level, it’s a cleansing force, a hurricane that’s thrown all the “professionals” back on their heels.
The article has a single fault: the title. Trump isn’t interested in ruling the world. He merely wants the best deals he can get for America. He’s single-minded about it, without illusions that he can achieve his objectives without disrupting established arrangements or ruffling feathers. His clarity about his priorities is the key to his effectiveness.
The moguls of the world of business and commerce have always valued personal friendships and amicable relations, but the truly great ones have always been willing to make an enemy if it was necessary to gain their objectives. In the words of my sainted father, they’ve always been willing to call a spade “a fucking shovel.”
Eventually some punch-drunk reporter, at long last willing to admit to the president’s ability and effectiveness, will humbly ask Trump for an explanation. I predict that Trump will smile and say something like “It’s the way we do it in Queens.” And the reporter will begin a journey into home truths about Mankind that New Yorkers learned long before the rest of the world.
What is interesting is the revelation that credentialed diplomats, supposed trained in how to negotiate, really don't know how to do it. They are totally baffled when they encounter people who do know how, and who have repeatedly succeeded at it.
ReplyDeleteSchools of diplomacy exist at all elite colleges, and they should all be shut down.
I can't believe that this outcome wasn't anticipated.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most common outcomes for politicians who get the job, is that they find out that they are completely unqualified for the actual job's activities. Except for LBJ, who was terrific at handling Congress, thanks to his long experience in Senate leadership, they have bombed at getting their objectives met.
Even the ones that have some foreign policy experience find that negotiations are much trickier than they thought they would be.