There is little that Donald Trump seems to enjoy so much as making his presence felt on the world stage – so long as he’s the one calling the shots.
He managed to do this to great, if exhausting, effect throughout most of the first year of his second term through constant threats of tariffs. At the slightest provocation, or seemingly just on a whim, the president would rip up a newly-minted trade deal and announce sweeping new tariffs on a longtime ally or trading partner. They would inevitably have to respond and react, and a hurried deal making would follow. Rinse and repeat.
The Supreme Court of the United States put an end to that particular play when it ruled Trump’s tariffs were unlawful, leading the president to look for new ways to impose his will upon the world at large, with mixed success.
Shorts
Threatening to invade various allies and neighbours was certainly attention-grabbing, while capturing Nicolas Maduro in an overnight raid in Venezuela was – at least in the short term – a spectacular victory.
