Two decades ago, Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook with a motto that seemed to contradict traditional management principles: „Move fast and break things.” This approach, which revolutionized the digital world, has been adopted by some of the most influential leaders in technology, including Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.
Donald Trump seems to have also embraced this principle and applied it in governance, promoting a radical leadership style with swift and controversial actions.
The Washington insiders' bet was that, after the failure of his first term, in the second, Trump would be a more conciliatory president, mindful of his reputation. He would approach adversaries, seek consultation, become a peacemaker, desperate to become a Nobel Prize-winning president like Barack Obama.
How wrong this prediction turned out to be. Trump is doing what few leaders dare, writes The Guardian in an analysis.
Donald Trump moves fast and breaks things, but this could lead to a better America
His approach is not based on reconciliations but on shattering conventions and completely restructuring the American political and economic system, notes Simon Jenkins.
He is a cultural revolutionary, a Mao Zedong, a grandiose destroyer of the system. He wants to reorganize Washington's role in the US and the US role in the world. He knows he may have only two years before the "system" – the electoral cycle, the judicial system, and state governments – block his path.
If he truly desires a revolution, he must break things and do it quickly.
The Guardian notes that one of the most evident examples of applying this strategy in governance is Trump's foreign policy.
NATO, Russia, and the global order
Trump rejects the idea that Russia poses a threat to the US and Western Europe, considering that Russia is only concerned about its border states – the Baltics, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, and the "stans" in Central Asia – nations that Trump is not very interested in defending.
Trump has taken a stance of tough pragmatism, refusing to accept the conventional view of a threatening Russia to Western Europe.
In his view, the US should not defend other nations but protect its own borders.
This approach has been a drastic change from the traditional policy that supported the expansion and defense of American interests worldwide.
Immigration, another brutal approach by Trump
Meanwhile, concerning borders, Trump is not isolated at all. The United States receives about 150,000 Mexican immigrants per year, joining the 11 million already present, writes The Guardian.
Mexico and Canada bombard the US with imports, as does China. For Trump, Americans should pay for goods.
If they want Chinese cars, they can donate 25% of the price to the government as a tariff.
As for fentanyl, the way to get countries like China to stop the flow and ensuing deaths is, again, through tariffs. Massive tariffs. Sometimes in diplomacy, only force speaks – force backed by uncertainty, the source notes.
Trump knows he doesn't have time for a long fight
The center's power in a democracy attracts more power. Trump knows he doesn't have time for a long fight. It's Musk and the chainsaw or nothing.
Education is not a federal function but a responsibility of the states.
So, shut down the US Department of Education. Also, USAID. Cut from the State Department. Attack the Treasury. Sure, things will fall apart, but it's not worse than doing nothing. That's what a cultural revolution means.
Trump's and his administration's actions have been shocking in many ways.
- Abandoning Joe Biden's aid to Ukraine in the midst of the battle
- Calling Volodymyr Zelensky a dictator,
- Insulting Canada,
- Threatening Greenland,
- Halting aid for famine in Africa,
- Proposing a beach resort in Gaza,
- Intimidating lawyers,
- Leaking information about security meetings
All of these are unbelievable.
Trump and his team are like bullies on a playground. But this is the sound of things breaking.
As things stand, the chances of Trump succeeding in his radicalism are slim. You can't organize a big revolution in just two years.
- Greenland is unlikely to become an American Ukraine.
- Tariffs will return to normal.
- Democrats will regain their courage.
- Many of the "broken things" by Trump will be repaired.
- NATO could become realistic. An eternal war in Ukraine – or broader – could be avoided, and Russia could be welcomed back into the community of nations, as China was after Nixon.
This is at least possible.
More importantly, the US could reassess its role in the world, a role that has meant a quarter-century of war on ethical grounds, with huge costs and loss of lives.
It should return to being what it is, another nation among nations. Perhaps this will be the outcome of someone who acts fast and breaks things, concludes The Guardian.
D.D.