94Ha Viewpoint
Businessman is the most obvious label of US President-elect Trump. The observation and analysis of his political behavior in his new term is basically based on this identity. But is Trump still a businessman?
Although Trump still appears in front of the public as an atypical politician and continues to break the bureaucracy in Washington, such as appointing Tesla founder Musk to lead the government efficiency department, and even before taking office, he offered bargaining chips to other countries. It seems that he is still using business to govern the country and safeguard the national interests of the United States.
However, analysis based on the single identity label of a businessman is a limitation, and it may even be an image deliberately created by Trump. This atypical image of a politician allows him to be free from the constraints of traditional political rules and do what he wants to do better. After all, Trump is the president of the United States. Behind his behavior, especially his “America First” stance, it means that he represents the national interests of the United States, and his behavior is based on the position and interests of the United States.
Reagan is a historical reference for such an atypical president. As a former Hollywood actor, Reagan’s political experience proves that the professional background of a political leader is not the key to determining the direction and achievements of governance. Reagan not only successfully played the role of president, but also initiated the far-reaching “Reagan Revolution”. Together with Britain’s Margaret Thatcher, they jointly opened the era of neoliberalism.
Reagan’s success lies in his ability to transform the actor’s communication and speech skills into political advantages, but more importantly, his policies are highly consistent with the goals of the United States during the Cold War. He advocated the economic policy of “small government, big freedom” and promoted economic recovery through large-scale tax cuts and deregulation; he adopted a tough foreign policy towards the Soviet Union and strengthened the United States’ global leadership.
Therefore, instead of discussing what identity can play the role of president well, it is better to think about why a person with such personality traits can become the president of the United States. Reagan’s success proves that the key to political leadership is not professional background, but in line with the needs of the times. His free market economic reforms and tough foreign policies just met the desire of American society for revival and victory at that time. In contrast, Trump’s rise to power occurred against the backdrop of the retreat of globalization and the rise of nationalism. The populist discourse of “America First” caters to these emotions.
Trump’s rise is the political response of American society to this global role change. At the beginning of his first term, he did try to deal with political issues with business thinking and simplify foreign policy into transactional negotiations. Although he is often questioned, from another perspective, it is precisely such non-traditional Washington politicians who can break the shackles of traditional political concepts and behaviors and safeguard American interests under the new order.
It is against the background of the “end of history theory” that all successive US presidents have promoted universal values with a global mission. However, judging from the series of actions of the United States in Central Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa, it only proves once again the problems caused by human arrogance.
If Trump still has such identity characteristics in his first term, then Trump in his second term will definitely not be just a simple businessman. In a sense, the Trump phenomenon has surpassed the transformation or rise and fall of a politician. It can even be said that it marks the entry of the liberal international order dominated by the United States after the Cold War into an adjustment period. The domestic political ecology of the United States is undergoing reconstruction, and the global governance model and relations between major powers are seeking new paradigms.
The analysis and prediction of Trump’s behavior and policy orientation in his second term cannot be limited to his business background, but should be placed in the context of the transformation of the United States’ global role. As the Reagan era proved, the success of political leaders depends more on whether they meet the requirements of the times, and the emergence of leaders is often a response to the problems of the times.
Therefore, Trump’s political trajectory precisely reflects the political response of American society to its changing global role. This understanding may be more instructive for grasping the direction of American politics and predicting Trump’s possible policy orientation in his second term.
