PSIR Simplified

Donald Trump assumed the Presidency of the America second time on 20 January, 2025.

He won the elections on the slogan of Make America Great Again (MAGA) , a slogan raised for the first time by the former President Ronald Reagan during his 1980 elections.

This slogan has two connotations:

1. The admission that America is not now ‘Great’ and it has to be made ‘Great’
2. The definition of greatness is open to the incumbent President. Here is the clue for Trump.

For Reagan, the Greatness was increasing the global influence of the US by taking global responsibility for peace with Soviet Union and thus establishing a more stable world.

Trump borrowed the world (Great), without borrowing its spirit.  

Trump has defined ‘Greatness’ of America in terms of more money and resources to America by unilateral tariff, land grab and shirking global responsibilities.

His redefinition of Greatness is a textbook example of Alexander Wendt’s Constructivism, where he said, ‘Anarchy is what we make of it’ . Now Trump says the ‘greatness’ and its means are what we make of it.

Here are some examples of Trump’s idea and practice of American greatness.

1. He has announced unilateral tariff against many nations including his European allies and India, disregarding global norms and WTO principles.
2. He has laid claims over Greenland, declared Canada as 51^st province of America, renamed Lake Ontario ( shared by the US and Canada) as American lake] threatened to retake Panama Canal, and has grabbed oil resources of Venezuela and have stake in mineral resources of Pakistan.
3. He has openly disregarded global responsibilities by withdrawing from Paris Climate Change Agreement and leaving security burden of NATO members to his European Allies. The European powers are mulling over the formation of  European Security Council without the US.
4. He has taken a leaf from Hitler’s playbook- repeat a lie hundred times, it would become truth. In spite of India’s denial Trumps keeps on claiming that he has mediated between India and Pakistan following the Operation Sindoor.
5. His deep desire to win Noble Prize for peace has been turned into taking shamelessly the noble Peace prize medal of 2025 winner Maria Machado. He has appointed himself the life long head of the Board of Peace constituted for resolving Gaza crisis!

These are just few examples of Trump’s efforts to make America great again.

Why Trump is Succeeding in short run?

Right now, Trump has succeeded in threatening and pressurizing America’s friends and foes alike. Why? Because in spite of its decline, the US still continues to be the new predominant economic, military and technological power in the world.

But what in the Long-Term?

But his pathway to make America Great again is fraught with many long-term consequences. American President has not only lost his all friends but also the trust of his allies about the reliability and predictability of American policies. This is a damage to America’s global position which would take decades to recover. But Trump is so transactional, that he fails to appreciate these consequences. This is no surprise, as Trump is perhaps the only president in American history which got elected to this post without any previous experience of public life in any manner. Hos experience and shenanigans as business tycoon have become the foundation of America’s global polices.

This is right time for the American voters to rethink as to how they elected him to this office!

In nutshell, Trump has reduced international relations to naked transnationalism and transnationalism  to  tariff, land grab and resource grab in other countries. This redefinition affects and worries all as America is still a global power.

Is this redefinition a permanent feature of American policy or a passing phase till his presidency?

Trump’s redefinition of greatness will appeal to Orwellian Big Brother: Image Courtesy: The Nation