American President Trump views world politics as a business. Western values and international alliances are irrelevant to him. But will Trump and the United States win if the world turns into one big bazaar?
„I set very high goals, then I insist and push until I achieve what I want." This is how Trump himself describes his tactics simply and directly in his book „The Art of the Deal", published in 1987.
Now Trump is showing the world that even as US president he acts like a businessman, writes ARD and points out that this is exactly what voters expect from him - to lead the country like a successful company. His Silicon Valley supporters sympathize with ideologues who treat the country like a corporation and even want a monarchy.
Experts call Trump's approach "transactional". This is a term that, for example, British expert Mark Galeotti uses to describe the actions of the main actors in the field of organized crime. The term is also used for foreign policy, such as that pursued in one way or another by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin or Chinese President Xi Jinping, explains the German public law media.
Competition for resources
At the center is the self-interest of the states, respectively, of those who lead them and link political interest with their own economic benefit. They see international politics as a competition for resources, in which the right of the strong prevails.
Negotiations are preferably conducted between individual countries, alliances are seen at best as deals. At the first next opportunity, negotiations are resumed bilaterally. “The rules-based world order, the norms of international law and treaties are only used when they serve to impose one's own goals - they are not the basis for one's own actions.
Without norms and rules
Since returning to the White House, Donald Trump has openly spoken about wanting to subordinate other countries to his will. However, his strategy has not yet been outlined, ARD writes.
The fact that Trump is seeking a rupture with European allies became abundantly clear on February 24. On the third anniversary of the start of Russia's offensive war against Ukraine, the United States voted with Russia and China in the UN Security Council for a resolution favorable to Russia, on which the European members abstained.
A little later, Trump's Secretary of State Marco Rubio canceled his meeting in Washington with the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaia Kallas. And no matter how much French President Macron and British Prime Minister Starmer flattered Trump during their visits to the White House, they failed to extract a binding promise from him about NATO security guarantees. Just as Ukraine was not promised any security guarantees against the possibility of exploiting its resources.
This has not yet been given to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, despite her good relations with Trump's advisor Elon Musk and with Trump himself, ARD notes. Recently, at a conference of right-wing and far-right forces, she warned of the danger of a split between Europe and the United States. But she clearly did not point out that the United States would also benefit from an alliance with Europe - whether in the economic or military sphere.
New friends?
It is not at all certain that the United States will win if it abandons its old allies, writes the German public-law media. For example, will Putin tear Russia away from China and transfer it to the side of the United States if Trump "gives" him Europe? Will concessions to China deter the country's President Xi Jinping from pushing his own interests against those of the United States?
Experts doubt it. After all, what is the point of the assurances of an American president whose words cannot be relied on and who will not remain in office forever - while China and Russia know each other well? And why shouldn't they be just as ruthless as he is in making deals that have backdoors to get out of?
Russia, China and other countries like Turkey have many years of experience in dealing with enemies, sometimes enforcing their interests together, sometimes against each other. One example is the relationship between Turkey and Russia, ARD points out.
„Deals" to the detriment of the US
If Trump declares Canada an appendage of the US, wants to gain control of Greenland, advocates the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza and recognizes Putin's right to seize and destroy Russia's neighboring countries, there is no longer any reason why other heads of state should not decide in turn that weaker countries should be nothing more than spheres of influence.
Especially since the withdrawal of the US on a global scale opens up new opportunities. China, for example, is already presenting itself as an alternative to Europe. Smaller countries are also positioning themselves globally to exploit the new power vacuum, writes ARD.
These countries have long learned from the West to use development aid and other types of support as a tool for influence. And the fact that Trump's team has abandoned this will further contribute to the permanent weakening of the US's global influence, thus destabilizing the global order.
It is unclear how Trump intends to achieve his promise to "make America great again" and establish peace in the world. For now, his policy seems aimed at eliminating the world order established after World War II, in which the US not only played a key role but also gained enormously.
With his art of "deal-making", Trump could rather turn the world into a bazaar where crises and conflicts intensify, which will ultimately harm the US, ARD commented.