Taunting, Rigorous Deal-Making, and Transformation - The Three Faces of Trump - WSJ

# Wall Street Journal Assesses Three Pillars of Donald Trump's Presidency: Trolling, Transaction, Transformation The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on October 10, local time, that the presidency of Donald Trump, the U.S. President, is characterized by trolling, transaction, and transformation. Here is a summary of WSJ columnist Andy Kessler's column, "How’s Trump Doing?". Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch became famous for asking, "How am I doing?" However, Donald Trump doesn’t ask; he just talks for 100 minutes straight. According to Kessler, Trump's presidency can be viewed through three distinct lenses: the trolling Trump, the transactional Trump, and the transformative Trump. Trump is a master of trolling, adept at irritating others, provoking anger, and eliciting frenetic reactions. His trolling often includes elements designed to mock progressives. For example, those enraged by his proposal to rename the Gulf of Mexico to "The American Gulf" fall into Trump's trolling trap. Similarly, his comment that Gaza could become "the Riviera of the Middle East" is another instance of trolling. On the transactional side, most of Trump's actions since taking office have been transactional in nature. His move to halt all support following a dispute with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was viewed as a charade aimed at securing mineral contracts. Trump has managed to bring even tech billionaires and European leaders to their knees. His cabinet appointments have been meticulously transactional. Trump handpicked extremely loyal individuals as cabinet members, instructing them to act as "human shields" for his orders. Cryptocurrency support under Trump also showcases his transactional nature. The $TRUMP meme coin issued before his presidency soared to $75 before plummeting to $11. The $MELANIA coin dropped from $13 to 74 cents. The industry refers to such actions as a "rug pull" scam, where investor funds are siphoned off. Efforts to shrink the government and make other countries bear their own defense costs are transformative. However, will isolationist policies that close borders to both goods and people spur economic growth? No. Tariffs would lead to more jobs lost than created. Trump's transformative efforts don't extend to Social Security or Medicare. The budget cuts the DOGE coin managed were trivial, and the fiscal deficit continues to climb. Last week, Trump stated, "I am a big fan of Ronald Reagan, but he was terrible on trade policies." So, is Trump doing well? The war in Ukraine persists, and China’s threats towards Taiwan remain. If tariffs weaken the dollar and crash the stock market, not only will transformations be halted, but transactions will also become impossible.