How to deal with the ultimate dealmaker
If anyone qualifed as a flibbertigibbet, a will-’o-the-wisp and a first-class, copper-bottomed clown, it would Donald J Trump. Unsurprisingly, it’s therefore quite difficult to know how to solve a problem like him.
He talks ten to the dozen, holding rambling press conferences in which no subjects are off limits (except, of course, when he claims a reporter’s ‘beautiful’ accent makes her questions incomprehensible). He throws out ideas that seem entirely elusive and unattainable, such as his recent vision of the Gaza Strip as some kind of Disneyland on Sea. And he generally acts the fool, which I suspect is something that hasn’t required method classes.
It’s simply not possible to read or understand Trump through the normal prism or framework of politics. He defies pretty much every convention that we have seen in liberal democracies in modern history and there are, to be honest, no reference points for his style and behaviour. There may be people around the world who now imitate Trump, but there’s no one Trump imitates.
While I’m certainly no clinician or analyst, I’d observe that he defies a great many conventions of normal psychology too.
Typically, for instance, people want to be consistent in their actions, for fear others will judge them poorly if they do the opposite of what they promised. Maybe we’d feel some dissonance if we publicly declared one thing on a Tuesday and woke up of a Wednesday morning declaring another.
Trump doesn’t care.
If challenged about the progress of his madcap scheme for the beleaguered Palestinian enclave in the Eastern Mediterranean, he would first of all say that everything was going well and that everyone loved his plan. And then he’d say that people were obstructing his plan. And then he’d say: ‘What plan?’
No, he never said the Palestinians would have to leave. He never claimed the Saudi Arabians and Jordanians would have to pay. FAKE NEWS.
This is a guy who would happily tell you night was day and day was night. And he is completely impervious to any sense of shame or embarrassment.
And what else do we know about him?
Well, he’s vengeful and irascible, of course. Since coming into office, he’s already forcing a constitutional crisis through his flurry of bizarre executive orders and apparent disregard for the rulings of courts. He’s sacking federal officials he doesn’t like, freezing funds and imposing tariffs on friend and foe alike.
Because he represents executive power in what is still the most powerful country in the world, everyone from Justin Trudeau and Claudia Scheinbaum through to Keir Starmer and Volodymyr Zelenskyy feels anxious and discombobulated.
There are three ways of responding to Trump that will end up getting you absolutely nowhere.
The first is to roll over and do whatever he says in the vain hope that you will win his favour and benefit from his largesse and blessing.
The second is to fight him tooth and nail, denouncing him as a dangerous demagogue, who is destroying American democracy while dismantling the world order in relation to trade and security.
The third is the game the UK government is trying. You make friendly and flattering noises and offer concessions, while trying behind the scenes to shift his position on various issues. Perhaps, for instance, you forget you said nasty things about him in the past, like David Lammy, or go on a charm offensive like Peter Mandelson. Maybe you back J D Vance’s position at the AI Summit in France, rather than the EU’s.
No, no and no.
There is only one approach that Trump will respect and that is firmness, resoluteness and a willingness to drive a hard bargain. You don’t roll over. You don’t shout and scream. But you don’t embarrass yourself or kid yourself you can sweet talk him.
Set out your views and hold a firm position. Tell Trump when you oppose him, but do it without hyperbole and personal jibes. Yes, offer him something that allows him to believe he’s coming out best in a ‘deal’, but don’t offer it on a plate up front. Make him work for it.
Of course, a country’s ability to arrive at a ‘deal’ with Trump depends on its relative strength and power. Much easier for G7 nations such as Canada and the UK than many others. But there really isn’t any alternative route.
The next few years are set to be a roller-coaster. To be honest, the next few weeks will have some serious ups and downs. Understanding who you’re dealing with is going to be critical to survival.
