The Squeakiest Loudmouth

Before he takes office, Donald Trump has formulated a new kind of U.S. imperialism in erratic outbursts. Unfortunately, there is a method to his madness.

With just under two weeks until he returns to office, Donald Trump reminded anyone who may have forgotten what it’s like to have him as president on Tuesday. Speaking at a press conference from his Mar-a-Lago estate, Trump unleashed one provocation after another.

Canada should become the 51st state, the U.S. might have to annex Greenland and the Panama Canal with military force, the Gulf of Mexico will be renamed the Gulf of America, and so on, all chaotically mixed in with complaints about the low water pressure in American showers.

Yes, the madman is back. The point of Trump’s leadership style is to make the whole world shake its head in disbelief. He isn’t really going to do it will he? Is he serious? Trump deliberately leaves this ambiguous, making reckless demands, ruling nothing out and doesn’t announce anything that is concrete. He enjoys provoking incredulous reactions, particularly among U.S. allies. The loudest and most aggressive troublemaker in the room sets the agenda and everyone else can only react.

Every Demand Made at the Utmost Level Secures an Advantage

Under the premise of America First, this is how Trump views his relationship with U.S. allies. It’s not about trust and shared values; it’s about the strongest power asserting its interests, which according to Trump is the U.S. If nothing else, it’s about Trump being able to claim that he has gotten a great deal.

It doesn’t matter whether or not the Panama Canal is under U.S. control again in the end. If Trump can knock off a few percentage points in transit fees for ships under the U.S. flag, he would have already won. He can celebrate a triumph if it works out; and if it doesn’t, he never has to raise the subject again.

America’s allies can neither endorse Trump’s style nor prevent it. Trumpism is shocking, and that’s exactly why it works.