The art of agreement

Dr. Ako Hama Karim
How to understand Donald Trump?
To understand and predict the decisions, policies and philosophy of any leader, we must first understand the personality, thinking and social and political maturity, but Donald Trump is not a traditional political leader.
Perhaps the best way to understand Trump is his 1987 bestseller The Art of Deal, co-authored with Tony Schwartz. Before discussing his book, I would like to mention the October 2024 film The Apprentice, which tells the story of Donald Trump’s youth and is directed by Iranian Ali Abbasi.
In the film, which tells the story of the 1970s, Trump appears as a greedy young man who wants to reach the peak of wealth in New York as soon as possible already.
Three laws that Trump has implemented in real life are:
First, constantly attack: Attack, attack, attack… on your opponents and competitors so that they are constantly on the defensive and cannot attack you. This technique is one of the main characteristics of Trump, who used in the election campaigns against Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Camilla Harris, constantly attacking them and describing them as ignorant, unworthy, unprogrammed and liars.
Second, never admit to mistakes: Don’t admit anything, deny everything. Trump has always denied criticism and shortcomings. He has been tried dozens of times and never said he was wrong.
Third, always show yourself successful even if you lose: During the COVID-19 crisis, Trump faced a lot of criticism, but he showed himself successful. The best example is the 2020 presidential election. After losing to Joe Biden, Trump said he won and was rigged.
Trump describes these three laws in a different and more detailed way in his book The Art of Negotiation, which sets out several principles and rules for a successful deal, which he uses in both business and politics.
Trump stresses the importance of strong and tough negotiations, believing that you must be able to make a strong offer from the beginning, which he calls the “best offer. In the NAFTA negotiations, Trump was able to negotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in favor of the United States.
Another of Trump’s principles is to “put as much pressure as possible” on your opponent until you force them to agree or submit. Perhaps the best example was the withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, which Trump believed was a “bad deal” and a new deal should be made to put pressure on Iran.
To put maximum pressure on China, Trump imposed tariffs. He plans to increase tariffs on Chinese goods to 60 percent as US president.
In the Art of the Deal, Trump emphasizes that you should deal with the big people, not the small ones. During his presidency, Trump has always tried to portray himself as a “big deal,” most notably in his attempt to reach an agreement with North Korea, hoping to sign a historic deal with North Korean President Kim Jong-un, but failed.
“If you’re going to think big, think big. Most people think small things because most people are afraid of success, they’re afraid of making decisions, they’re afraid of winning,” he said.
Another of Trump’s rules is to appear strong in the media and use the media to your advantage. “You have to build a strong image based not on your actual accomplishments, but on how people see you,” he says. In other words, it doesn’t matter whether you are actually successful or not, what matters is that you show yourself to be successful and people see you as such.
Trump uses social media extensively to direct messages to the American people and the world. Trump often creates media errors on issues in order to stay in the center, attract public opinion and keep the media under control.
In general, these principles and dozens of others that Trump mentions in the book, shows us that Trump’s thinking is Michiavellian thinking, use every means to succeed, no matter whether the means are legal or legitimate. Trump wants win-at-all-costs .