Donald Trump's transactional diplomacy: Why is simply a business approach detrimental to global politics?

On August 19th this year, a text entitled “Trump Has No thought How to Do Diplomacy” ("Trump has no thought how to do diplomacy"), written by Stephen M. Walt and Renée Belfer of Harvard University, appeared on the Washington abroad Policy portal.

Below are the main thesis of this article and my comparison of them with the actions of Chinese diplomacy in the individual of head of the Chinese abroad Ministry, Wang Yi. To confirm my claim that politics, especially abroad politics, requires definitely different skills and experiences than business...

Since returning to the White home on 20 January 2025, Donald Trump consistently proves that the business logic of the transaction that brought him a fortune, not only does it not translate into success in abroad policy, but it even generates serious harm to the United States and global order. His second word is simply a case survey in which the deficiency of knowing for the complexity of diplomacy, historical alliances and long-term strategies leads to chaos, weakening the credibility of the US and dangerous strengthening of the adversaries.

A businessman in the planet of diplomats: a fundamental misunderstanding

Donald Trump sees global policy as a series of bilateral transactions in which there must always be a “winner” and “lost”. In his world, alliances are not a community of values and interests, but costly obligations to be renegotiated in order to get a better “contract”. This approach, possibly effective in improvement negotiations, proves disastrous in diplomacy for respective reasons:

1. Ignoring intangible assets: Reliability, trust and predictability are currency in global relations. Trump, known for abruptly changing his head and failing to keep his promises, devalues that currency. His threats of withdrawing from NATO or questioning safety guarantees for allies undermine the foundations on which Western safety has been based for decades.
2. Simplifying complex problems: Issues specified as the war in Ukraine, NATO expansion or proliferation of atomic weapons are brought to a simple, individual relation with leaders specified as Vladimir Putin. Trump seems to believe that individual chemistry with an autocrat can replace complex multilateral negotiations. As the fresh Alaska summit has shown, his propensity to give Putin the right to the question of the "primary causes" of war, without a firm stance in defence of global law, is seen by allies as treason.
3. No strategical vision: Trump's abroad policy is reactive and shortsighted. It focuses on immediate, media "winners", ignoring the long-term consequences. NATO's weakening is not just a financial issue; it is simply a strategical gift to Russia and China, which, each of them, carry out their own scenarios on a imagination different from the planet order.

Concrete damage: from Kiev to Taipei

The deficiency of knowing for Trump's diplomacy has measurable, negative effects:

• Weakening of Ukraine and east Europe: The proposition that Ukraine should quit part of the territory in the name of fast peace undermines the sovereignty of the country and sends a signal to another countries of the region that American guarantees are conditional. Europe's leaders, who travel to Washington to convince Trump to take a harder stand, return empty-handed, which deepens the transatlantic divide.
• Erosion of the US's credibility: As noted in the article Foreign PolicyWhy would any country trust safety guarantees signed by Trump? His communicative shows that the deal is only valid until he loses his pay. This makes the United States become an unpredictable and unreliable partner, prompting allies to look for alternate solutions and weakening America's global position.
• Strengthening autocrats: Leaders specified as Putin or Xi Jinping realize and usage Trump's transactional approach. By offering him apparent concessions or flattering his ego, they can accomplish strategical goals while the US loses influence. Trump, focused on individual relationships, does not see that he is played in a much larger geopolitical game.

Contrast: Chinese pragmatism and Wang Yi diplomacy

While Trump's diplomacy is based on chaos and individual impulses, China's abroad policy, led by an experienced Wang Yi diplomat, is its exact opposite. The Chinese strategy is:

• Long-term and patient: Beijing implements multi-generational projects specified as the Belt and way Initiative, building its economical and political influences step by step, without violent twists.
• Multidimensional: China uses the full spectrum of tools – from economical diplomacy, through soft power, to assertive policy in global forums (UN). Wang Yi methodically builds coalitions, especially in the Global South, presenting China as an alternate to the US-dominated order.
• Consistent and disciplined: Unlike Trump's tweets and public blasts, Chinese diplomacy communicates in a disciplined and coherent manner. Even erstwhile Beijing uses the tactics of a "wild warrior", it is part of a thoughtful strategy, not an accidental burst of emotion.

The confrontation of these 2 approaches is striking. While Trump weakens his own alliances and undermines the credibility of his country, China patiently fills the vacuum. Wang Yi travels the planet by signing trade agreements and strategical partnerships, while the U.S. Secretary of State has to explain the whims of his president to his allies.

Donald Trump's second word brutally exposes the fact that the state is not a company, and allies are not contractors that can be fired. His business instincts, alternatively of leading to better “agreements”, lead to strategical isolation of the United States, leaving the field of action to those who play a completely different, much more complex game in global politics.

Source:

• Walt, S. M. (2025, August 19). Trump Has No thought How to Do Diplomacy. abroad Policy.
• Information on the activities of Chinese abroad Minister Wang Yi comes from publically available analyses and press reports concerning Chinese abroad policy from 2024 to 2025.

Leszek B. Glass

Email: [email protected]

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