Trump Is Leading America as His Business Empire

Published in Beijing News
(China) on 24 November 2016
by Xingjie Sun (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Jia Liu. Edited by Melanie Rehfuss.
America is like a huge company. Now that the shareholders have cast their vote, a chairman has been elected. His name is Trump. Making money being his priority, he is setting out to reconsolidate “America, Inc.,” hoping to turn it around, make profit and revive its lost glory.

America is about to enter an era of President Trump. Will Trump Tower become the White House, or will the White House turn into the next Trump Tower? Since being elected, Trump’s words and actions, are being watched by the whole world.

There are signs that Trump intends to lead America like his business empire. America to him is a huge company. Now after the shareholders have cast their vote, a chairman has been elected. His name is Trump, and he is viewed as a successful businessman. What could be more appropriate than having a businessman run a company?

Because it is business, business rules apply. No matter what needs to be done, it needs to be cost-effective. As for sentimentality, that will wait until money is made. So far, at least, Trump has been planning to make money his priority and to reconsolidate “America, Inc.,” hoping to turn it around to make a profit and revive its lost glory.

What will Trump do on his first day as president? Abolish the Trans-Pacific Partnership. It is an ambitious strategy that Obama has worked extremely hard to promote during his second term in office. Its aim is to enhance America’s role as the rule-maker for global free trade and to prevent China from setting its own business rules and standards. But now, according to Trump, this strategy is only a pretty shell without substance, and, for America, Inc., this spells disaster.

Therefore, America needs to abolish the TPP. It will re-establish rules for trade and commerce through bilateral negotiations. No doubt, Trump’s secretary of commerce or trade representative will be kept busy. The TPP makes too many concessions and is no good for America’s interests. In other words, the TPP, at least with its current language involving security and ideological factors, is not really to the taste of a businessman.

It is then not possible to win America’s support through negotiated agreements because, to pass the TPP, six or more member states have to agree and their combined gross domestic product must add up to over 85 percent of the sum total of all member states. America’s GDP alone, however, accounts for 60 percent, so without Trump, the TPP will end up an empty shell. With the TPP abolished, what will happen to that small group of partners who have been negotiating with America for years? Huddle together and work harder.

Of course, it is not only the TPP’s partners who are worried. Military allies feel the same from Europe to East Asia without exception.

Trump said that America did not necessarily need to foot the bill for its allies’ defense, so its military friends better be prepared to get ripped off. It is said that Trump is destroying the world America has built since World War II. Because America has always protected its allies, they have gotten used to this relationship out of habit, and thus have not developed their own independent defense capabilities. For this reason, they may spend plenty of time working out how to share defense expenses once Trump takes office.

At this moment when it is unpredictable which way the wind will blow, is America trying to sell “security” to its allies for huge profits? Maybe Trump has never looked at security as simply security; instead, he intends to profit from this massive “security” deal. America should not be that curious about what happens in the world. It should shift its focus back onto itself, back onto its own soil, to revive America’s economy and solve the American people’s unemployment issues. This is what Trump means by “America First.”

Judging from the reaction of America’s allies so far, Trump has already won this battle. Its allies’ worries and anxieties are Trump’s bargaining chips and they are the profit margins for “Chairman” Trump.

However, it is simply not the American spirit to shovel only the snow that lands on its own doorstep – at least not for long, especially in today’s world where China is on the rise. Trump’s America is not turning its back to the world. It is just closing the doors to hone its skills. The savior in American blood will eventually wake up and embrace the world with twice the enthusiasm. It will want to strengthen America’s dominant position. On this, Trump is no different from Obama.


特朗普正按照“商业帝国”模式领导美国

  ■ 观察家

  美国就是一个巨型的公司,现在经过股东的选举,选出了一个董事长,他的名字叫特朗普。他以赚钱优先的思维,要重新整合“美利坚公司”,扭亏为盈,东山再起。

  美国即将进入特朗普总统的时代,到底特朗普大厦会变成白宫,还是白宫会变成特朗普大厦呢?近日,关于特朗普当选后一系列的言行举动引发全世界关注。

  诸多迹象表明,特朗普正按照一个“商业帝国”的构想在领导美国。美国就是一个巨型的公司,现在经过股东的选举,选出了一个董事长,他的名字叫特朗普,而他被认为是一个成功的商人。由商人来经营公司,适得其所。

  既然是商业,那就按照商业的规则,无论做什么事情都要讲性价比,至于情怀之类,在赚了钱之后是可以讲的。至少到目前为止,特朗普就是这种赚钱优先的思维,要重新整合“美利坚公司”,扭亏为盈,东山再起。

  特朗普上任第一天要做什么?废掉TPP,这可是奥巴马第二个任期以来,苦心孤诣去推动的大战略,目标就是夯实美国作为全球自由贸易规则制定者的角色,防止中国树立商业规则。但是在特朗普看来,这是华而不实的东西,对美利坚公司来说,简直就是灾难。

  所以,美国需要废掉TPP,通过双边的协商重新确立贸易规则。无疑,特朗普的商务部长或者贸易代表有活干了。TPP的让利太多,不利于美国自身的利益,也就是说,至少现在的TPP因为内涵的安全,甚至意识形态的因素,也就不符合一个商人的口味。

  依靠谈判的协议把美国拉进来是不可能了,因为只有超过6个国家同意,且这些国家的GDP可以占到成员国的85%以上才能通过TPP,美国一家就占了60%,没有特朗普,TPP就是摆设。TPP废了,那跟着美国谈了好几年判的小伙伴怎么办?自求多福吧。

  当然,忧心忡忡的不仅是TPP的小伙伴,还有军事盟友,从欧洲到东亚,莫不如此。

  特朗普说,美国没有必要为盟友承担防务成本,所以,各个军事朋友也做好挨宰的准备。有人说,特朗普正在摧毁二战以来美国缔造的世界,因为美国一直以来保护着盟友,习惯成自然,这些盟友已经适应了这种状态,也没有发展出自己的独立防务能力,因此,特朗普上来之后,可以好好谈谈防务经费分摊的问题了。

  在这个风云变幻的时刻,美国向盟友兜售“安全”,是不是可以大赚一笔呢?也许特朗普从来没有从安全的角度来看安全,而是要做“安全”这单大生意。美国不应该那么有好奇心,去关心世界,而是应该回到美国自身,回到本土,恢复美国自己的经济活力,解决美国人的就业问题,这就是特朗普所说的美国优先。

  从目前美国盟友的反应来看,特朗普已经赢了一局,盟友的担心和焦虑就是特朗普的筹码,就是特朗普“董事长”的利润。

  不过,“自扫门前雪”不符合美国精神,至少不会长久,尤其是,在中国日益崛起的现在。特朗普的美国并不是背向了世界,而是“闭门修炼”,美国骨子里面的救世情结最终还会复苏,热烈地拥抱世界,巩固美国的主导地位。在这一点上,特朗普和奥巴马并没有什么区别。

  □孙兴杰(吉林大学公共外交学院学者)
This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

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