Trump has always been a man of big words. From the first day of his second term, he has kept the world in suspense with his daily new plans and projects. The results so far are poor and have improved the lives of very few Americans. There is no longer any talk of the great upheavals that, for example, the DOGE group led by Elon Musk should have brought to state administration. According to statistics and numbers, little has been achieved with it.
Canada is not yet the fifty-first state of the USA and Greenland has not yet become American. The Panama Canal is still part of Panama. The Gaza Strip does not look like a Middle Eastern Riviera. It has been bombed and the suffering of the Palestinian population is unimaginable. Trump also seems to have lost interest in this war since it became clear that Iran is not so easily impressed with a few American missiles. They were not enough to stop Tehran’s nuclear program. After Iranian missiles struck American bases in the Middle East, direct US involvement ended immediately.
Moreover, Iranian counterattacks had caused more destruction in Israel than expected. Tel Aviv’s much-touted Iron Dome missile defense system was unable to stop many. Prime Minister Netanyahu probably expected more from Trump than big words and only symbolic missile deployments. The war in the Middle East continues, but without Trump. Despite the deaths and destruction, Iran is the victor after twelve days in which neither Israel nor the US could win.
Once Trump labeled immigrants from South America as criminals, he quickly changed course when big farmers, hoteliers, and entertainment companies made it clear to him that they couldn’t do without these workers. Now he talks about “good, long-term workers.” This wasn’t a change of heart. Rather, it was pressure from a significant group of his party supporters that made him meek. From now on, the immigration agency ICE will have to largely stop raids and arrests in agriculture, hotels, and restaurants.
Before his election, he wanted to completely clear up the Epstein scandal and release all the documents about the events, but there is no talk of that anymore. Instead, he even insults his supporters, who reminded him of his campaign promises, as the Fifth Column of the Democrats. As a distraction, he quickly brought about a peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia that no one had previously calculated and which, moreover, did not improve anything that had not already been agreed upon. But it created a new Iran-Russia conflict against Azerbaijan in the Caucasus.
Trump is not stable. He lacks political consciousness. Unlike Putin or Xi Jinping, he is driven by the expectations he has cultivated among his voters and supporters and his personal and political inadequacies in meeting those expectations. Instead, he makes grand gestures and even grander words. With a raised fist, he calls on his supporters to fight. But for what, against what or against whom? Against the establishment, to which he himself belongs? Against a deep state whose plans he is carrying out?
He plays the fighter for the interests of the little people, to whom he himself does not belong, but whom he pretends to understand. He acts as a platform for the people, coming from the ruling class but wanting to defend the dominated class. Perhaps he believes so himself. But the dominated class wants to see results that benefit them. They are not interested in peace agreements between two states that most of them do not even know about. They want to improve their living conditions, lower prices, improve jobs or work in general. But Trump is not able to do this, at least so far.
With each new political plan, the hopes he had awakened in the election campaign are being dashed again and again. He is constantly creating new conflicts to be applauded for their resolution. With each of these conflicts, he is alienating some of his supporters and creating new enemies. His acceptance in society is declining. While it had reached a high of 50 percent in November 2024, it has been steadily declining in the months that followed. In mid-August, it was only 44 percent, the low point was 40 percent in mid-July. Despite the golden times that Trump had promised American workers, the number of new jobs being created is not meeting expectations.
Despite his hyperactive activity on tariffs, few advantages have been derived from this policy. Framework agreements have been concluded with some countries, such as with the European Union. But the biggest piece remains China, which has unassumingly put the US economy on a diet of vital rare earths after Trump’s grandiose threats. Trump continues to meekly extend the deadline for the new tariffs he wants to impose on China to take effect. So far, this does not look like a thrilling success.
China is not impressed by Trump’s grandiose words, its economy is constantly growing. On the other hand, the US clearly seems to be retreating more and more in each round of negotiations. Of course, all this does not escape the attention of the American population, to the extent that they are interested in this test of strength. They are also learning that Trump’s plan to use tariffs to reduce US deficits is not working. On the contrary, the national debt has now surpassed the $37 trillion mark ($37,000 billion) and is growing faster and faster. The US Court of Accounts, the Joint Economic Committee, expects that “the debt will increase by another $1 trillion by the end of the year.
At least Trump has been able to shrug off the cost of the war in Ukraine. Americans have withdrawn from financing the war, instead asking the Europeans to pay. This relieves the US budget and taxpayers, but it is not very impressive compared to his brazen boast that he can end the war in 24 hours. But that is the measure of his personal inadequacy and political incompetence.
Great mass agitators like Trump make big promises first and foremost. In Western societies, they encounter largely apolitical populations who yearn for great deeds. They fail not because of their good will but because of their inability to recognize the real conditions or their unwillingness to admit them. They take their ideas and theories for reality. Fortunately for Trump and for the world, he has cool-headed negotiating partners on the other side in the negotiations to end the war, but also in the tariff war with China, who do not allow themselves to be carried away by such pompous phenomena.
It is striking how little political clarity he has. When he speaks to Putin on the phone, he leans towards his views. If he speaks to the Europeans, he threatens Putin with the harshest sanctions. If they speak to him enough, he is very disappointed in Putin and describes as bullshit what he had appreciated about his views days earlier. The meeting in Alaska testifies once again to Trump’s ineffectiveness, as its result for the West is not visible.
The big winner of this meeting was Putin, as many Western media outlets noted with envy and bitterness. Not only did Trump roll out the red carpet for the “wanted man”, but Putin also showed the real conditions to those who repeatedly wanted to portray him as an isolated person. He did not come scared, but fearlessly straight to the lion’s den, to an American military base. What could be more dangerous for a wanted man and at the same time make the change of the situation clearer? Putin was not left out, but his European opponents. As Washington’s footstools, they are only informed about what the big players have negotiated without them.
Of course, they will continue to try to bring the unstable Trump back to their side. Perhaps they will succeed in part again. However, the resolution of the conflict seems to be moving towards the recognition of the new conditions created by the war. Trump leaves no doubt that he wants an end to the war and that this end will be at the expense of Ukraine and the Europeans. It was no coincidence that he had sent his negotiator Witkoff to Moscow before the expiration of his ultimatum, so that he would not have to fulfill the ultimatum.
It is becoming increasingly clear that Trump expects sacrifices from the Europeans and Ukraine. But stability is not his forte. What was true today will be true tomorrow? It is difficult to assess the level of narcissistic disorder of the wannabe planet lord.
