Trump was a great President.
I say this time and again, he was great because he knows how to wield power. And he knows how to forge relationships.
And most of all, he knew that he didn’t get a choice as to who the other leaders of the world were. He built his relationships with the people actually in charge, not just who he wanted to be in charge.
You learn this kind of thing in business. Goals must transcend personalities, dealing with obnoxious people, respecting them, genuinely finding something to like about them, despite other unpleasant qualities is a skill most people don’t have. But if you don’t do it, then business doesn’t happen. You can’t win the game unless you are in the game.
In politics, if you don’t do it, then wars start. More on that later.
Trump built a relationship with Kim Jung Un, the leader of North Korea. Kim is not a nice guy, he has many bad qualities. But Trump first chided him, then offered an olive branch, and then built it into a personal meeting. He became the first President to set foot on North Korean soil.
That is one HELL of an accomplishment.
Think about the last several Presidents. Could Biden have done that? Sad and Laughable. Obama? No. Bush? No. Clinton? Maaaaybe.
At the moment, we see North Korea threatening its whole region, they are firing missiles, they are flying fighters. The Japanese issued evacuation warnings. This was apparently in response to U.S./ South Korea military exercises. Who knew the North Koreans would be pissed? The threat of war is clear and present.
If Trump were still President, what would this be like? The dialog was underway, we had some fits and starts toward normalizing the relationship between North and South Korea. If that relationship could have been maintained, we wouldn’t have needed the exercises. And we wouldn’t be on the brink of war with North Korea.
But Biden lost that relationship, his incompetence left us with no communications channels, no ability to negotiate, no ability even to start a dialog with Kim. Thousands of North Korean artillery pieces are pointed directly at Seoul. If war starts, hundreds of thousands of people will die within days. And that is not counting the nuclear weapons.
But this isn’t the only instance where we needed more Trump.
Trump built a relationship with Putin. Part of this relationship was a certain respect for Putin, who is certainly powerful and capable. Trump could speak with him peer to peer. Biden can’t do that, Biden can needs cue cards to know when to sit or stand.
I will say this with absolute conviction – If Trump has remained President, there would be no war in Ukraine.
This is the consequence of electing someone like Biden, who has no idea how to lead and no idea how to show the power of the United States in a light that deters bad actions.
And yes, the world is paying for it in blood and treasure. We have war. And we will have more.