More than a year after taking office President Donald Trump shows no sign of attaining the gravitas that normally goes with that position. One of the most important roles in any administration is that of " Secretary of State " . Trump has just fired Rex Tillerson and appointed Mike Pompeo who was head of the CIA. In typical Trump fashion, Tillerson was in the air and on his way home from a mission to Africa when he learned that he was fired - from a Trump tweet.
Trump continues to run the White Hose and the nation in similar measure to the way he once used to run a television show. People are appointed on impulse and often with no clear suitability for the job in hand and a vast array of important posts remain unfilled. Some countries need the appointment of an American ambassador and many functions are rudderless because Trump is clearly not interested in matters that do not hold his personal attention.
This attrition of his personal staff and advisers is sending jitters to the financial world. Trump is talking openly of launching a trade war. He thinks he can restore the balance of trade in Americas favour by imposing tariffs to protect American manufacturing and restore jobs that have gone overseas. The likely outcome would be a race to the bottom as other countries implement tit for tat tariffs and usher in a world recession.
The resignation of one of his key financial advisers is ringing alarm bells. Gary Cohen had international credibility and the fact that he has walked away from the job seems an indication that his advice was being ignored. The problem is that the man who sits in the oval office has powers similar to a dictator and in Trump we have a president who does not fit the profile envisaged by the founding fathers.
He won office by appealing to his nations less educated citizens and making promises that can not be fulfilled. He told them what they wanted to hear and this message has condensed into personal loyalty that makes a second term a possible reality. American politics had divided sharply along partisan lines and even reasonable compromise now seems out of the question.
This American distraction comes at a time when China is rising with alarming speed and Vladimir Putin has consolidated his hold on a militaristic Russia. American leadership in a dangerous world has lost clarity. New liaisons are taking shape as the balance of world power changes. The cohesion of the EU in Europe is now in question.
Sadly, the prospect of world prosperity rests in the hands of one man who many see as irrational. If the nation with the most powerful military force on the planet engages in a trade war the outcome would be unaccountable. That fate depends on where Trump takes us ! World commerce depends on the whim of as very unstable man !
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