Less Diplomacy, More Drama: How Trump Turns Global Politics Into A Reality Show
For a real estate baron, who rose to prominence in American pop culture through his show, The Apprentice, it is not surprising that US President Donald Trump continues to rely on dramatics even on the global stage. And his return to it has been marked with unpredictability, misinformation, and showmanship turning serious global negotiations into a political circus.
Trump has often mentioned how much he loves watching television while bingeing on burgers – and it does well to describe his all-the-world's-a-stage personality. In fact, it was a joke by one of his predecessors at a glitzy event – he now pretty much hates – that may have goaded him to become a politician. In April 2011, former president Barack Obama targeted Trump's reality TV persona at the White House Correspondents' Dinner – a journalists' gathering often merging standup and politics.
Here are some examples:
CANADA – 51 ST STATE OF THE US
Former prime minister Justin Trudeau called the tariff justification 'completely bogus" and accused him of trying to harm the Canadian economy to facilitate annexation, a claim the American had joked about and later seriously repeated in some contexts.
VIETNAM TARIFF FLIP-FLOP
Vietnam thought it had a tariff deal. Negotiators had worked out a preliminary agreement with the United States to substantially lower punitive tariffs, to around 11 percent but just days before Washington's July 8 deadline, Trump unilaterally raised the figure to 20 percent over a phone call with Vietnamese general secretary Tô Lâm, who had not even been part of the talks. Experts have warned that this episode damages US credibility with a former USTR official, Michael Kruse, stating: 'It introduces even greater uncertainty, even once you think you've negotiated a deal, he (Trump) can turn around and change the terms unilaterally and publicly," adding, 'and in this case it appears that he did it unilaterally and publicly without any buy-in from Vietnam."
'It just introduces even a greater element of uncertainty, that even once you think you've negotiated a deal, he can turn around and just change the terms," @wendyscutler tells @POLITICO. 'And in this case it appears that he did it unilaterally and publicly without any buy-in… https://t.co/SYj0WLF8cp — Michael Kruse (@michaelkruse) July 11, 2025
WITCH HUNT CRIES, 50% TARIFF THREAT OVER BOLSONARO TRIAL
Trump has turned global trade policy into a tool for personal grudges and political drama, with the Brazil episode a prime example. He threatened a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian goods unless President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva halted the trial of far-right ally Jair Bolsonaro. The threat was not based on trade concerns, as the US actually enjoys a surplus with Brazil but purely on ideological and personal grounds. He openly called the trial a 'witch hunt" and used his social media platform to pressure Brazil's democratic institutions, saying he told Lula to 'stop this nonsense".
Earlier this year, Trump threatened to slam Colombia with tariffs and eight sanctions, all because Bogotá refused to accept two US military planes carrying deported Colombian nationals. 'The US cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals," wrote Colombian President Gustavo Petro on his X.
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