Trump’s Plan Makes Perfect Sense, and It’s Working
15th March 2026
There’s a strong misconception in Europe that President Donald Trump prefers dictators and authoritarian powers over democratic allies. The fact is that he has just taken out a major Chinese ally (Venezuela), is in the process of taking out another (Iran), and is threatening to take out a third (Cuba).
As we think about the problem set that confronted the United States when he came into office, we see that he inherited a dwindling heavy-industry sector and a rigid US ideology about offering the world free markets, despite extremely unfavourable terms (US tariffs on EU cars were 2 per cent while EU tariffs on US autos were 11 per cent). He also inherited a rising rival in China, which seemed to be eating US manufacturing share every year while gaining dominance in global shipping and energy markets.
But unlike so many previous American presidents, Trump looks at these problems differently. He sees different problems – inherited from his years as a businessman – and he responds differently.