January 21, 2025
JAKARTA – In an ideal world, it is not a good sign when an incoming United States president claims that his biggest strength is being crazy.
But that is actually what the 47th US president, Donald Trump, said when asked about what would make him a more effective leader in his second term.
In a recent interview, Trump told the Wall Street Journal that he was pleased that the Chinese leader “respects me because he knows I am [expletive] crazy.”
And that is probably the reflection of the topsy-turvy world that we inhabit now, that a unique moment in history also needs an unconventional leader. This is after all the wish of the majority of American voters who cast their ballots for the one-time reality television star.
Or probably Trump is the kind of leader that the world needs right now.
In a time when old rules and conventions are already out the window, what the world needs is probably bluff and bluster from a leader who can only speak the language of power.
After all, even before he was inaugurated last night, he had delivered some goods.
We know that the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal could only have been reached with the urging of Trump. It was his madman tactics that finally forced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the ceasefire agreement.
And even after being painted into a corner and being subjected to Trump’s profanity, Netanyahu thanked Trump for pushing the deal. That is the art of the deal indeed.
We can expect that Trump will probably try the same tactic in Ukraine, which will likely be the primary focus of his early days in office. It is not realistic to expect that Trump can end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours, but he will likely try something different to achieve a resolution for the protracted conflict.
With regard to China, we can expect some degree of pragmatism from Trump, in spite of the heated rhetoric from his pick for secretary of state Marco Rubio.
As a transactional and business-minded president and with the help of figures like billionaire Elon Musk, whose EV brand Tesla relies so much on the supply chain in China, Trump can take a more realistic path.
Already, senior Chinese officials have offered an olive branch with figures like Chinese vice president Hang Zheng securing a meeting with Musk and welcoming “Tesla and other US companies” to share in the benefits of China’s development and contribute to China-US relations.
Things will not change overnight, but there is certainly a hope that business can take precedence over politics.
People may focus on some of Trump’s outrageous statements, like when he said he wanted to occupy Greenland or to take over the Panama Canal, but what if he just wants to cut a deal on how the US can get more out of existing arrangements?
Knowing his transactional bent well, President Prabowo Subianto can certainly use that to Indonesia’s advantage.
A good personal relationship can go so far with Trump as the former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe could attest.
After all Trump is an impressionable person and he was impressed with Prabowo’s English skills when the two spoke on the phone last November.
If the unconfirmed report is true that Foreign Minister Sugiono is now in Washington, DC, this can be a good sign that President Prabowo has the desire to develop a rapport with the mercurial US president.
With his erratic behavior and statements, we can expect the world to be chaotic or at best confusing in the next four years.
But even with that fire and fury the world and especially Indonesia can remain hopeful that deep inside President Trump is a businessman who is willing to cut deals that will benefit America first and the world second.