Weigh in on Sydney Sweeney or run the world? Trump attempts it all
More than six months into his second term as US commander-in-chief, Trump, a former New York businessman and reality television host, has applied a hands-on management style and producer-like attitude toward governing, relying largely on his own instincts for decisions large and small.
Using the tools of social media and a propensity for bullying, Trump personally wades into issues inside and outside the federal government to get his way. He harangues company executives to invest in America and uses trade deals as leverage over foreign leaders to end conflicts.
Last week he fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics over unproven allegations she falsified figures that he didn't like. This week he called for the head of Intel to step down over ties with China, and the company's stock fell.
In recent months he has pressed the Washington Commanders football team to change its name back to the Redskins, forced universities to pay huge amounts to the federal government, boosted retailer American Eagle Outfitters' shares with a compliment about a controversial jeans commercial featuring actor Sydney Sweeney and attempted to shore up Republican power by pushing for political redistricting in Texas.
Trump's style, which can confound both his friends and his foes, is dramatically different from his more traditional predecessors. It has earned him condemnation for being caustic and praise for being effective at getting what he wants.
'While he delves into topics that are certainly distractions relative to the big business of leading the world's greatest nation, it can also be said that past presidents have excessively deferred to the bureaucracy and failed to deliver the change their voters expected,' said Carlos Curbelo, a Republican former congressman from Florida.
'Trump views himself more as the CEO of the USA. than as president,' Curbelo added. 'It's good for decision making and challenging for the constitutional order which made our country the world's greatest economic and military force.'
Trump has taken on academia, the legal world, media companies, athletics, the federal bureaucracy and more, all while retooling the world economy with tariffs, cracking down on immigration flows, upending relations with allies and putting his stamp on American culture.
Though he has a team of advisers, the president frequently follows his own counsel, making policy decisions and then announcing them himself, ramifications aside.
'I think what a lot of people miss about Trump is he's the marketer-in-chief,' said Ford O'Connell, a Republican strategist with ties to the White House. 'Not only is he his own best press secretary, he's also his own best chief-of-staff.'
A POTUS who 'can't focus'
Critics question why Trump gets bogged down in issues that are secondary to his goals of strengthening the US economy, for example, or achieving a peace deal between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
'He's commenting one moment on ... Putin and tariffs and all that's happening in the world and the next moment he's talking about, oh, Sydney Sweeney, and all these other issues that are completely unrelated to being president of the United States,' said Charlie Dent, a Republican former congressman from Pennsylvania. 'He simply can't focus.'
The White House said Trump is using his skills to deliver on policy priorities. 'President Trump's leadership style can be summed up plainly as decisive and commanding,' said White House spokesman Harrison Fields.
Trump also employs a talent to distract when facing difficulty. Though that super power has largely eluded him with the controversy over sexual offender Jeffrey Epstein and the Department of Justice's refusal to release files related to the disgraced financier's case, Trump's broad ability to change the subject and dominate the news cycle has stupefied his opponents for years.
'His leadership style is much closer to that of an executive producer, and the executive producer who has a really big picture understanding of the audience,' said Republican strategist Kevin Madden, a senior adviser to former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns.
'I think he trusts his instincts about the audience over anybody else, and that's why you see him oftentimes, you know, managing his own policy portfolio.'
Trump, though not a stickler for detail on all things policy-related, does get into the weeds on things he cares about, both cultural and political, including redecorating the Oval Office with gold, paving over the Rose Garden and building a new ballroom on the White House grounds.
On Tuesday, reporters bantered with the president while he walked on the roof of the White House press room, surveying the grounds for what he said were more ways to spend his money. The White House said Trump and other donors plan to pay for the $200 million ballroom project, which is slated to be finished before his second term concludes.
'I think narcissists do get bogged down in details because they think that everything is a reflection of them,' said Republican strategist Rina Shah. 'When he decides to focus on the minutia, he's forgetting about the bigger picture. And that's kind of a disservice to the office.'
Where critics see such disservice, the White House sees results.
On the eve of presiding over a US-brokered peace framework between Azerbaijan and Armenia this week, Trump took to social media to tout his involvement: 'Many Leaders have tried to end the War, with no success, until now, thanks to 'TRUMP.''
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Asharq Al-Awsat
30 minutes ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Russian Forces Make Sudden Thrust in Eastern Ukraine, Open Source Data Shows
Russian forces have made a sudden thrust into eastern Ukraine near the mining town of Dobropillia in a move that may be designed to increase the pressure on Ukraine to cede land as the US and Russian presidents prepare to meet. Ukraine's authoritative DeepState war map showed on Tuesday that Russian forces had quickly advanced up to 10 km (six north in two prongs in recent days, part of their drive to take full control of Ukraine's Donetsk region. DeepState said they had advanced near three villages on a section of the frontline associated with the two key Ukrainian strongholds of Pokrovsk and Kostyantynivka. US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are expected to discuss a possible deal to end the war in Ukraine when they meet in Alaska on Friday. Unconfirmed media reports say Putin has told Trump he wants Ukraine to hand over the part of the Donetsk region that Russia does not control There was no immediate comment on the battlefield development from Moscow. Ukrainian military spokesperson Viktor Trehubov said only small groups were penetrating defensive lines, and this did not amount to a breakthrough. Pasi Paroinen, a military analyst with the Finland-based Black Bird Group, said the situation had escalated rapidly, with Russian forces infiltrating past Ukrainian lines to a depth of roughly 17 km (10 miles) during the past three days. "Forwardmost Russian units have reportedly reached the Dobropillia – Kramatorsk road T0514 and Russian infiltration groups have also been reported near Dobropillia proper," he wrote on X. Tatarigami_UA, a former Ukrainian army officer whose Frontelligence Insight analysis tracks the conflict, posted: "In both 2014 and 2015, Russia launched major offensives ahead of negotiations to gain leverage. The current situation is serious, but far from the collapse some suggest." Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser, said the Russians had been able to advance due to what he called "a partial collapse in the front" due to Ukraine's shortage of soldiers. He said, without citing evidence, that Ukraine had redeployed elite forces to try to thwart the advance. Russia's Interfax news agency and Ukrainian war bloggers reported the same. "This breakthrough is like a gift to Putin and Trump during the negotiations," Markov added, suggesting it could increase pressure on Kyiv to cede some land to prevent the Russian army eventually taking the rest of Donetsk by force. To do that, though, Russian forces would first need to take control of Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, Druzhkivka and Kostiantynivka - four places Russian military analysts call "fortress cities". Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has publicly pushed back against the idea of ceding territory to Russia, saying any peace deal must be a just one. Yuri Podolyak, a pro-Russian military blogger, said Russia had yet to commit substantial forces to exploit the breach and try to secure an operational breakthrough. Bohdan Krotevych, former chief of staff of Ukraine's Azov brigade and a National Guard lieutenant colonel, took to X late on Monday to warn Zelenskiy of the threat, saying the frontline in the area was "a complete mess". "The line of combat engagement as a fixed line does not actually exist," he said.
Saudi Gazette
2 hours ago
- Saudi Gazette
Trump's election paved way for Israeli attacks on Iran, intelligence sources say
BRUSSELS — Israel had been planning a full-scale invasion of Iran for many years, but the re-election of Donald Trump coincided with a series of critical events paving the way to the direct attack in June this year, four current and former Israeli intelligence sources told Euronews in separate interviews. Israeli intelligence sources, speaking on condition of anonymity due to security concerns, told Euronews that Mossad agents had identified key strategic factors and political conditions enabling them to prepare for and initiate the attack on Iran. Among these, they cited the intensification of the proxy war, the election of US President Donald Trump, and the momentum of nuclear negotiations with Western powers. On 13 June, Israel launched multiple land and air strikes on Iran, killing senior Iranian military leaders, nuclear scientists and politicians, and damaging or destroying Iranian air defences and nuclear military facilities. Iran retaliated with missile and drone strikes on Israeli cities and military sites, aided by Iran-allied Houthis in Yemen. The US defended Israel from these attacks and, on the ninth day, bombed three Iranian nuclear sites. Iran then struck a US base in Qatar. On 24 June, under US pressure, Israel and Iran agreed to a ceasefire. Both sides claimed victory following the ceasefire. Israel and the US asserted that they significantly degraded Iran's missile and nuclear programs, while Iranian authorities denied these claims. Independent assessments are currently limited due to the secrecy surrounding Iran's nuclear and the US said that the attack had been in the planning for many years, in parallel with diplomatic engagement with Iran.'Israel has never hidden the fact that it wants to destroy the Iranian nuclear program, and it has never hidden the fact it was also willing to allow it to be resolved diplomatically, as long as the diplomatic solution prevents Iran not only from enriching uranium, but from ever getting the capacity to pose an existential threat to the state of Israel,' a first Israeli intelligence source told engagements were not bringing any tangible results, the sources said, while tensions between the US and Iran grew following Donald Trump's first presidency in the US from 2018, Trump withdrew the US from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA), which had limited Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. Following the US re-imposition of sanctions, Iran began ignoring the deal's nuclear restrictions in the meantime, the proxy war between Israel and Iran was progressively escalating.'I think the pivotal moment was in April 2024, when Iran launched missiles directly from its own territory at Israel. Until then, Iran had primarily relied on proxies to attack Israel, while Israel carried out covert operations inside Iran with plausible deniability, aiming to prevent escalation into full-scale war,' the first intelligence source April 2024, Iran launched missiles at Israel in retaliation for an Israeli strike on its consulate in Syria that killed Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi. He was the highest-ranking Iranian military official killed since the Iranian General Qassem Suleimani's assassination in 2020 by the US Trump administration. Suleimani was the 'architect' of Iran's proxy war in the Middle East.'I think Israel had to wait from April 2024. It needed time to gather all the intelligence and planning it needed in order to feel confident that, already in the first two or three days of the war, we would be in a position where we had complete control over the situation, minimal casualties at home, and complete control of Iranian airspace, with the ability to attack whenever and wherever we want to,' the source Trump's second election as US president was another key pivotal moment and was welcomed by all the four sources.'The original plan was to attack in October 2024. That was after the second direct missile attack by Iran on Israel following Israel's assassination of Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon in September,' the first intelligence sources said, but the attack was delayed to wait for the US elections in November.'I think it was very important for Israel that Trump should win those elections. Once Trump was elected, he put the main emphasis on reaching a hostage deal,' said the second source, referring to the Hamas-Israel conflict.'Once the hostage deal was signed around March 2025, Israel was again in a position to attack Iran. But the US and Iran entered into negotiations, to try bringing a peaceful solution to the issue of Iran's enrichment and nuclear program,' the first source March, the US and Iran began indirect negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program. The negotiations did not bring an agreement, although counterparts described them as 'constructive'.'Trump gave 60 days to those negotiations. The day after, Israel attacked Iran. I think that obviously was coordinated with the US administration,' all the current and former Israeli intelligence sources told has never publicly stated that Israel's first attack on Iran was coordinated. However, following the US strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at a press conference on June 23 that the operation had been planned for many years.'When we attacked, we were at the end of the 60-day period of negotiations. I think it was very clear to Trump at this stage that the Iranians were not willing to forego enrichment on Iranian soil, even though the negotiations did bring up some interesting solutions to that. For example, some sort of international enrichment agency that would allocate enriched uranium at civilian levels to all countries in the region interested in it,' the first intelligence source said.'Trump realised Iran was engaging in negotiations merely to buy time, with no real intent to reach a resolution. The talks served as a decoy, giving Iran the impression it wouldn't be attacked, especially amid widespread press reports that Israel was on the verge of striking,' the first source Iran claimed victory and celebrated its resilience towards Israel's invasion, Israeli intelligence sources said that Tehran's regime has been left weakened following the attack.'Israel has emerged from several conflicts in a stronger strategic position in the region, but in a more difficult political position with its Western partners, except perhaps Washington. We're at a very delicate moment in which both Israel and Iran have little to gain by pushing further right now,' Ian Lesser, fellow and adviser to the German Marshall Fund's president, told Euronews.'Iran has fewer options now. One option is to return to negotiations. Another is to turn to its traditional methods of responding, which rely on proxies and non-traditional actions, including terrorism. There is also the possibility that, if Iran maintains some ability to develop nuclear weapons, it may see this as another path. But I don't think anyone will let them do that. There may be disagreements about Israeli strategy and policy, but overall, Israel and its Western partners are not willing to tolerate a nuclearised Iran,' the expert the war had gone further, Israel would have probably attacked gas and oil installations, a fourth former Israeli intelligence source told Euronews. However, after the ceasefire, negotiations have resumed at diplomatic 25 July, diplomats from Iran met counterparts from Germany, the UK, and France in Istanbul for talks, the first since Israel's mid-June attack on Iran, amid warnings that these European countries might trigger a 'snapback' of UN sanctions on second intelligence source said that following the conflict, Israel would maintain control over Iranian airspace, in order to 'destroy anything that even suggests that the Iranians are preparing to rebuild any of the capabilities that we have destroyed'. — Euronews
Saudi Gazette
2 hours ago
- Saudi Gazette
Europe frozen out as US and Russia prepare for Alaska talks
BRUSSELS — Europe's sidelining from the Alaska meeting of US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin means the continent's been frozen out of a meeting critical to its security, according to EU law professor Alberto Alemanno. The proposed Alaska meeting will be the first in-person meeting between the US and Russian presidents since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia. But there are no plans for European leaders to attend, raising questions about the heft of EU diplomacy on the world stage. For Alemanno, EU law professor at HEC in Paris, this is a clear sign that Europe is being left on the sidelines. "The Alaska meeting may offer yet another moment of truth for Europe because the European Union finds itself on the sidelines in what could be the most consequential peace effort since the war began, with Trump and Putin set to meet without any European leader officially invited to the table," Alemanno said. The professor added that Europe is now concentrating efforts on obtaining a place at the negotiation table for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. But recent US threats to pull financing from Ukraine's defence efforts make Europe cautious and conciliatory, the professor said. "The EU seems to lack leverage in actually inviting the US to be invited or to be heard, simply because we heard from Vice President Vance that the US is ready to give up its support for Ukraine unless the European Union steps in. In a way, the European leaders are caught between a rock and a hard place. If they show too much commitment towards Ukraine, they might end up being alone, but if they let it go, Ukraine is going to get a very bad deal," he said. The professor added that Europe accepts subjugation with a view to obtaining security guarantees from Trump. "This is extremely tricky and frustrating to see for millions of Europeans who would like to see their European leaders speak with a louder voice instead of accepting, yet again, more impositions, more intimidations, more subjugation to this US administration in a moment in which this negotiation could fundamentally reshape European security without meaningful European input." Jacob Kirkegaard, an expert at the Bruegel think tank, agrees that Europe is paying the price for its relative weakness on defence. "We are paying the price of our inability to defend ourselves and our inability to adequately support Ukraine. And that means that when you don't have actual power, you will not be invited to this meeting," Kirkegaard said. He added that even if Trump and Putin come to terms, these cannot be implemented against the will of Ukraine and Europe. Kirkegaard also said any deal that might harm the security interests of Europe would damage NATO. Kierkegaard said that if the US - as the principal security power of NATO - signs a deal advantageous to NATO's direct military antagonist Russia, "then NATO is dead, finished... it's buried and it's over". "Our problem is that we are not capable... to deter Russia on our own," he added. Ahead of the talks, Donald Trump said that a ceasefire deal might involve the exchange of territories between Ukraine and Russia, a suggestion roundly rejected by Zelenskyy and strongly resisted by European leaders in a statement issued on Sunday. The EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas, convened a snap, informal virtual meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday to discuss the situation. — Euronews
