Donald Trump: The strategy of arrogance (2025)

Donald Trump probably never heard of French poet Jean Cocteau, but he could certainly adopt his famous quote: "Since these mysteriesare beyond us,let's pretendto be theirorganizers." Facing pressure from the bond market, which was sliding into crisis mode, the US president feigned a long-calculated strategic move to make a 180-degree turn on Wednesday, April 9, regarding the application of tariffs on almost all countries, announced a week earlier.

Arguing that the targeted countries had adopted a constructive attitude to the negotiations, Trump suspended the measures for 90 days, imposing only a 10% tariff on foreign products imported into the United States, except for China, for which the sanction worsened with a 125% tariff. The maneuver has not fooled anyone: The financial markets won the first round of a battle that has only just begun.

Since Trump arrived at the White House less than three months ago, analysts and commentators have been vying with each other to make sense of what is happening at the top of the world's leading power. However, given the contradictory goals he has stated and the confidently delivered U-turns, the exercise increasingly resembles a puzzle with missing pieces. The lies and parallel truths spouted in response to the ups and downs of the stock market and the outraged reactions are increasingly struggling to conceal the culpable inconsistency of the American administration, which is beginning to crack from within.

Dizzying

Financial markets, foreign governments, business leaders and the press have understood nothing about what is unfolding before their eyes. Trump's grand strokes disrupt the world's order so profoundly that, ultimately, only his close circle is able to grasp the ins and outs and appreciate its full significance. Unfortunately, just listening and observing the behavior in the Oval Office is sufficient to understand that the script was written by ideologues ill-prepared for the exercise of power, plunging the world into an abyss of caution.

The justification for the reversal on tariffs is dizzying: "I was watching the bond market," Trump explained. "The bond market is very tricky. I was watching it. But if you look at it now, it's beautiful." Like a child fascinated by his own mischief, Trump tries to convince his country that he is working for the common good by instantly repairing the damage he has himself just caused.

The financial market rollercoaster has certainly pleased a few cunning investors, but the irresponsibility of the US president, in a mix of carelessness and denial, is chilling. He has just bought the lull in the financial markets on the cheap, but now more than ever, it is a time of uncertainty and speculation.

The 90-day delay he granted to the countries with which he wants to negotiate is merely a sword of Damocles that is capable of bringing back chaos at any moment. The world has not finished wondering about Trump's intentions. In these troubled times, it would be reassuring to believe that a rational plan, even an unpleasant one, is at work. The most destabilizing would be realizing that there is no strategy, only the arrogance and egotism of one person.