Trump beats nationalist drum

S Nihal Singh

ALTHOUGH his bark is worse than his bite, President Donald Trump’s first address to the UN General Assembly has plunged the world into a moment of gloom and reflection. From inspiring moments of US presidential addresses on building a better world, we now have an occupant of the White House striking a traditionally nationalist line and wading into the most controversial North Korean nuclear programme by threatening to destroy the nation if it did not listen.

Not content with badgering North Korea, he tore into Iran repeating his charge that the Obama administration’s 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran was the worst in his nation’s history, accusing it of little short of hegemonic dreams. He stopped short of abrogating the deal but expressed his own frustrations with it.

President Trump’s address raises many questions, the chief of which is: Where does the world go from here? He made it amply clear that the world consisted of sovereign nations each looking after its self-interest and, contrary to Washington’s traditional post-World War II policy, it would not seek to spread its ideas or judge other nations’ choices about how they ordered their affairs.

Apart from pruning America’s budget support to the UN — a whopping 22 per cent of the total — he has drawn back from some of the presidential election campaign rhetoric, if nothing else than for seeking assistance on North Korea. But his approach to world problems remains America-centred (America First) seeking a transactional relationship with other leaders and nations. No wonder President Trump’s painting of Iran as the evil genius of the Middle East won him immediate approbation from its foreign minister.

It is clear that even after the sacking of his chief White House strategist, Mr Steve Bannon, Mr Trump’s extreme views are still guided by the former’s peculiar mix of nationalism and right-wing mantras. It is indeed startling that Mr Trump should choose the setting of the UN General Assembly to air his distaste for two countries and their leaders making the problems even harder to resolve.

Indeed, President Trump has put some of his closest allies close to despair, with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un probably laughing at accomplishing the feat of being the centre of attention of the US President’s inaugural speech. Rather, the tenor of the presidential address expressed his own frustrations, with his earlier shock and awe bluster coming to mock him.

It is still a long way to the resolution of the North Korean problem. It is too late in the day to expect Pyongyang to promise to give up its nuclear stockpile as a precondition for talks. President Trump was wooing China’s Xi Jinping, at his Florida resort and elsewhere, in the foolish hope of getting him to discipline Mr Kim. Gradually, he learned that the Chinese would not help in stopping all trade with North Korea because of the possible downfall of the regime leading to a reunification of the Korean peninsula on American terms.

At the end of the day, the world is left with the problem of taking the North Korean issue back to diplomatic channels, with President Trump having to make a retreat. One cannot help feeling that given his beliefs and manner of presenting them, the US President makes achieving results that much more difficult.

After more than six months in office, the world has come to discount Mr Trump’s rhetoric laced with a high degree of ego. But getting him on track still requires the combined pressure of his chief White House advisers, with his daughter Ivanka and her husband having to weigh in.

Meanwhile, President Trump has stirred the pot in the Middle East yet again by singling out Iran for its policies. His first visit to Saudi Arabia encouraged Riyadh to isolate Qatar for its independent-minded policies. Now by painting Iran black, he can only succeed in hardening Tehran’s approach to the US and strengthen the position of hardliners. In essence, he has taken sides again with the Sunni world at the cost of rival Shias.

It is not clear whether President Trump fully understands the consequences of his rhetorical flourishes. He is not a reading man and relies on right-wing television for his information, apart from the short attention span he can give to confidential briefing. Only after delivering his pro-Saudi address in Riyadh did he realise that the largest American military base in the region hosting more than 10,000 personnel was on Qatari soil.

There are no quick answers to changing Mr Trump’s make-up and America and the world will have to live with the President of the most powerful country given to extravagant rhetoric and bluster that sits ill with a world leader. In real terms, the US President has made resolution of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities and truncating Iran’s hegemonic regional dreams more complicated.

By using the UN as a sounding board, Mr Trump has made the task of his domestic reformers more arduous. The tenure of his White House senior advisers has been scandalously short and the loss of Mr Bannon most difficult to bear for the boss although his spirit lives on. Both daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Kushner are his official White House advisers. It is often a tussle between his senior advisers heavy with military rank and his family.

In short, President Trump can be unpredictable and short-tempered. He sees himself as a deal-maker but business experience does not translate into good governance and how to play cards close to the chest. There is no Trump mantra that has proved effective in his new job.

In American politics, this has brought about a fatalistic view. In all likelihood, Mr Trump will stay his full term as the cycle of congressional elections moves on. He has frustrated many in his Republican Party, recently demonstrating a penchant for making deals with Democrats.

The world will remain a spectator in seeing how the Trump phenomenon plays out domestically, keeping fingers crossed on the wise prevailing upon in the end.