Why I am beginning to like President Trump

This might sound controversial to many people, but I am beginning to like Donald Trump (above). The US president-cum-computer keyboard warrior has demystified the American Presidency. Yes, I agree, he at a time looks irrational.

But then, crazy people have the tendency to disrupt, and that is what America and the world need today. A leader who can change the status quo and give leadership and direction. For many years, US presidents were sort of captured by lobby groups in Washington DC.

From the Israeli lobby to people who represent diverse interest groups including big Fortune 500 companies that influence congress to pass legislation in their favour, to environmentalists, sex and gender activists to Middle East caucuses- all found their place at the table. Mr Trump is overturning that order. President Trump is unconventional. For starters, he rules America through Twitter. It is like his fingers itch and would quickly type anything, causing a huge political storm in the aftermath.

“Rep Elijah Cummings has been a brutal bully, shouting and screaming at the great men and women of Border patrol about conditions at the Southern Border, when actually his Baltimore district is FAR WORSE and more dangerous. His district is considered the Worst in the USA.” He twitted in July about Cummings – an African American the equivalent of an MP - who was so critical about him. His tweets caused an uproar because Cummings – who served in Congress for 23 years- was a respected statesman. Cummings passed away this month.

This and many other messages have defined how people perceive his presidency. During the campaign, Trump declined funding from lobby groups. This might have helped in reducing the impact of lobbyists on his foreign and domestic policies. The flamboyant nature of President Trump has earned him both admirers and detractors. Many people are disturbed by his hubristic character that features exuberance and bullishness. Yet these attributes-somehow- have helped President Trump to avoid being cornered by the right-wing administration.

In the film ‘All Presidents Men’ written by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, they described how bureaucrats within a government can bring down a president. In the Watergate scandal during Richard Nixon’s administration, money and corruption brought down his administration. That in my view was Richard Nixon’s weakness. Under Trump and his open nature of discussing issues, it is very difficult for such a scandal to take place.

During the Ronald Reagan administration, government bureaucrats were seen doing operations outside the President’s knowledge. The Iran Contra affair was part of ‘arms for hostage’ deal between the US government and the Iranian government. The example is given here of Nixon and Ronald Reagan clearly show situations where the president is not fully in charge. The Trump administration depicts a leader who is fully in charge.

Come to think of it, America today has the lowest unemployment in 50 years and the economy is doing well according to a taxi driver I used while in New York. Despite the hullabaloo about the Muslim ban, America still remains the only country in the Western world that helps Muslims.

An example is the Chinese Uighurs who have been marginalised and disregarded by the mainstream groups. The Trump administration threatens economic sanctions against the Chinese government because of its treatment of the Uighurs. Not even leaders of the Muslim countries were able to muster the courage to condemn China except for President Recep Erdogan of Turkey.

Peaceful world

Even though the Gulf war was started by George Bush Senior, and subsequently perpetuated by Bill Clinton and, George W Bush and later by Barack Obama, it was under the Democratic Party administration that the war intensified and spread to Libya, Syria, Yemen and in Palestine where thousands of people died. Even the conflict between Israel and Palestinians seems to be remission. The arms manufacturing companies and their lobbyists seem unable to influence the Trump administration.

Even though he appears crazy and doesn’t conform to the norm, Trump has chosen another pathway to exercise leadership. This kind of defying the norm might indeed create a more peaceful world where non-interference might promote peace and security. Many poor countries had become victims of predatory multinational companies that promoted conflict to extract resource in the conflict-prone countries and arms dealers who rushed in to make a kill with their wares. That is no more.

Mr Guleid is the CEO of Frontier Counties Development Council.