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.''
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Arab News
17 minutes ago
- Arab News
Oil Update — prices dip as markets focus on US-Russia peace talks
NEW DELHI: Oil prices fell in Asian trade on Monday, extending declines of more than 4 percent last week as investors awaited the outcome of talks between the US and Russia later this week on the war in Ukraine. Brent crude futures fell 62 cents, or 0.93 percent, to $65.97 a barrel by 8:31 a.m. Saudi time, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 69 cents, or 1.08 percent, to $63.19. Expectations have risen for a potential end to sanctions that have limited the supply of Russian oil to international markets, after US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Aug. 15 in Alaska to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. The talks follow increased US pressure on Russia, raising the prospect that penalties on Moscow could also be tightened if a peace deal is not reached. 'If peace talks falter and the conflict drags on, the market could quickly pivot to a bullish stance, potentially triggering a sharp rally in oil prices,' said Sugandha Sachdeva, founder of SS WealthStreet, a New Delhi-based research firm. Trump set a deadline of last Friday for Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022, to agree to peace or have its oil buyers face secondary sanctions. At the same time, Washington is pressing India to reduce purchases of Russian oil. Consultancy Energy Aspects estimated Indian refiners have already purchased WTI totalling 5 million barrels for August loadings, with an incremental 5 million barrels possible depending on tender outcomes, and 5 million barrels for September loadings. WTI arbitrage to Asia remains open, and India looks set to continue absorbing US crude for now, Energy Aspects said in a weekly note. Trump's higher tariffs on imports from dozens of countries, which took effect on Thursday, are expected to weigh on economic activity as they force changes to supply chains and fuel higher inflation. Dragged down by the gloomy economic outlook, Brent fell 4.4 percent over the week ended Friday, while WTI dropped 5.1 percent. 'The near-term direction will hinge on several key events, including the August 15 meeting between the US and Russian presidents, upcoming speeches from Federal Reserve officials, and the release of the US CPI data,' said Sachdeva. Separately, data from the National Bureau of Statistics on Saturday showed China's producer prices fell more than expected in July, while consumer prices remained flat, highlighting the extent to which weak domestic demand and ongoing trade uncertainty are weighing on consumer and business sentiment.

Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Trump vows to evict homeless from Washington, official says National Guard may be deployed
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Arab News
3 hours ago
- Arab News
On the front lines in eastern Ukraine, peace feels far away
DONETSK REGION: In a dugout where each nearby blast sends dirt raining from the ceiling and the black plastic lining the walls slipping down, Ukrainian soldiers say peace talks feel distant and unlikely to end the war. Explosions from Russian weapons — from glide bombs to artillery shells — thunder regularly overhead, keeping them underground except when they fire the M777 howitzer buried near their trench. Nothing on the Eastern Front suggests the war could end soon. Diplomatic peace efforts feel so far removed from the battlefield that many soldiers doubt they can bring results. Their skepticism is rooted in months of what they see as broken US promises to end the war quickly. Recent suggestions by US President Donald Trump that there will be some ' swapping of territories' — as well as media reports that it would involve Ukrainian troops leaving the Donetsk region where they have fought for years defending every inch of land — have stirred confusion and rejection among the soldiers. Few believe the current talks can end the war. More likely, they say, is a brief pause in hostilities before Russia resumes the assault with greater force. 'At minimum, the result would be to stop active fighting — that would be the first sign of some kind of settlement,' said soldier Dmytro Loviniukov of the 148th Brigade. 'Right now, that's not happening. And while these talks are taking place, they (the Russians) are only strengthening their positions on the front line.' Long war, no relief On one artillery position, talk often turns to home. Many Ukrainian soldiers joined the army in the first days of the full-scale invasion, leaving behind civilian jobs. Some thought they would serve only briefly. Others didn't think about the future at all — because at that moment, it didn't exist. In the years since, many have been killed. Those who survived are in their fourth year of a grueling war, far removed from the civilian lives they once knew. With mobilization faltering and the war dragging on far longer than expected, there is no one to replace them as the Ukrainian army struggles with recruiting new people. The army cannot also demobilize those who serve without risking the collapse of the front. That is why soldiers wait for even the possibility of a pause in hostilities. When direct talks between Russia and Ukraine were held in Istanbul in May, the soldiers from 148th brigade read the news with cautious hope, said a soldier with the call sign Bronson, who once worked as a tattoo artist. Months later, hope has been replaced with dark humor. On the eve of a deadline that US President Donald Trump reportedly gave Russia's Vladimir Putin — one that has since vanished from the agenda amid talk of a meeting in Alaska — the Russian fire roared every minute for hours. Soldiers joked that the shelling was because the deadline was 'running out.' 'We are on our land. We have no way back,' said the commander of the artillery group, Dmytro Loviniukov. 'We stand here because there is no choice. No one else will come here to defend us.' Training for what's ahead Dozens of kilometers from Zaporizhzhia region, north to the Donetsk area, heavy fighting grinds on toward Pokrovsk — now the epicenter of fighting. Once home to about 60,000 people, the city has been under sustained Russian assault for months. The Russians have formed a pocket around Pokrovsk, though Ukrainian troops still hold the city and street fighting has yet to begin. Reports of Russian saboteurs entering the city started to appear almost daily, but the military says those groups have been neutralized. Ukrainian soldiers of the Spartan brigade push through drills with full intensity, honing their skills for the battlefield in the Pokrovsk area. Everything at the training range, only 45 kilometers (28 miles) from the front, is designed to mirror real combat conditions — even the terrain. A thin strip of forest breaks up the vast fields of blooming sunflowers stretching into the distance until the next tree line appears. One of the soldiers training there is a 35-year-old with the call sign Komrad, who joined the military only recently. He says he has no illusions that the war will end soon. 'My motivation is that there is simply no way back,' he said. 'If you are in the military, you have to fight. If we're here, we need to cover our brothers in arms.' Truce doesn't mean peace For Serhii Filimonov, commander of the 'Da Vinci Wolves' battalion of the 59th brigade, the war's end is nowhere in sight, and current news doesn't influence the ongoing struggle to find enough resources to equip the unit that is fighting around Pokrovsk. 'We are preparing for a long war. We have no illusions that Russia will stop,' he said, speaking at his field command post. 'There may be a ceasefire, but there will be no peace.' Filimonov dismisses recent talk of exchanging territory or signing agreements as temporary fixes at best. 'Russia will not abandon its goal of capturing all of Ukraine,' he said. 'They will attack again. The big question is what security guarantees we get — and how we hit pause.' A soldier with the call sign Mirche from the 68th brigade said that whenever there is a new round of talks, the hostilities intensify around Pokrovsk — Russia's key priority during this summer's campaign. Whenever peace talks begin, 'things on the front get terrifying,' he said.