Less Diplomacy, More Drama: How Trump Turns Global Politics Into A Reality Show

Last Updated:August 07, 2025, 19:08 IST

US President Donald Trump's return to the global stage has been marked with unpredictability, misinformation, and showmanship turning serious negotiations into a political circus

US President Donald Trump has often mentioned how much he loves watching television while bingeing on burgers. (Image: Reuters/File)

For a real estate baron, who rose to prominence in American pop culture through his show, The Apprentice, it is not surprising that US President Donald Trump continues to rely on dramatics even on the global stage. And his return to it has been marked with unpredictability, misinformation, and showmanship turning serious global negotiations into a political circus.

Trump has often mentioned how much he loves watching television while bingeing on burgers – and it does well to describe his all-the-world’s-a-stage personality. In fact, it was a joke by one of his predecessors at a glitzy event – he now pretty much hates – that may have goaded him to become a politician. In April 2011, former president Barack Obama targeted Trump’s reality TV persona at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner – a journalists’ gathering often merging standup and politics.

The American president uses his own version of X, Truth Social, to announce threats or supposed “deals" often bypassing formal channels. As a result, his allies are left blindsided while foreign policy is reduced to political theatre.

Here is an analysis through some recent episodes:

CANADA – 51 ST STATE OF THE US

Perhaps the most controversial of all episodes, in February, Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on nearly all goods imported from Canada under the Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), citing Canada’s alleged role in the fentanyl crisis and illegal immigration as justification.

Former prime minister Justin Trudeau called the tariff justification “completely bogus" and accused him of trying to harm the Canadian economy to facilitate annexation, a claim the American had joked about and later seriously repeated in some contexts.

‘WHITE GENOCIDE’ AND SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa, a fellow BRICS nation, has been hit with a steep 30 percent tariff by the US, not over trade deficits but politics and conspiracy.

The move comes as the White House escalates tensions with Pretoria over claims of a “white genocide", a narrative pushed by far-right circles and amplified within the MAGA (Make America Great Again) base. Instead of engaging through facts or diplomacy, Trump appears to be weaponising tariffs to pander to extremist talking points.

TRUMP’S 35% TARIFF SWORD OVER EU

In what can be called economic blackmail, Trump has threatened a blanket 35 percent tariff on goods from the European Union if they do not cough up a $600 billion investment, a demand tied to vague and shifting trade negotiations.

On April 2, he unleashed a wave of tariffs dubbed “Liberation Day" accusing the EU of “unfair trade practices". In swift retaliation, the EU announced counter-tariffs targeting politically sensitive US exports, including bourbon, Harley-Davidsons, and farm goods from key Republican states.

Trump’s move had already slapped a 20 percent tariff across a wide spectrum of EU imports, ranging from cars and pharmaceuticals to machinery and agriculture. By late July, he abruptly shifted tactics offering to reduce tariffs if the EU committed to a $600 billion investment in US infrastructure and manufacturing. When the EU failed to comply, he escalated his threat to a 35 percent blanket tariff.

‘100% CHIP TARIFFS’ HIT JAPAN

In another trade salvo, Trump has slapped 100% tariffs on semiconductor imports, hitting Japanese tech giants hard. Without warning or negotiation, his unilateral move throws Asia’s supply chains into disarray and jeopardises key allies.

Japanese giants Toyota and Honda have been blindsided by these sweeping tariffs. “Due to the impact of US tariffs and other factors, actual results showed decreased operating income, and the forecast has been revised downward," Toyota said in its first-quarter results summary.

VIETNAM TARIFF FLIP-FLOP

Vietnam thought it had a tariff deal. Negotiators had worked out a preliminary agreement with the United States to substantially lower punitive tariffs, to around 11 percent but just days before Washington’s July 8 deadline, Trump unilaterally raised the figure to 20 percent over a phone call with Vietnamese general secretary Tô Lâm, who had not even been part of the talks.

Experts have warned that this episode damages US credibility with a former USTR official, Michael Kruse, stating: “It introduces even greater uncertainty, even once you think you’ve negotiated a deal, he (Trump) can turn around and change the terms unilaterally and publicly," adding, “and in this case it appears that he did it unilaterally and publicly without any buy-in from Vietnam."

WITCH HUNT CRIES, 50% TARIFF THREAT OVER BOLSONARO TRIAL

Trump has turned global trade policy into a tool for personal grudges and political drama, with the Brazil episode a prime example. He threatened a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian goods unless President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva halted the trial of far-right ally Jair Bolsonaro.

The threat was not based on trade concerns, as the US actually enjoys a surplus with Brazil but purely on ideological and personal grounds. He openly called the trial a “witch hunt" and used his social media platform to pressure Brazil’s democratic institutions, saying he told Lula to “stop this nonsense".

COLOMBIA BLACKMAIL: DEPORT OR GET TAXED

Earlier this year, Trump threatened to slam Colombia with tariffs and eight sanctions, all because Bogotá refused to accept two US military planes carrying deported Colombian nationals.

“The US cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals," wrote Colombian President Gustavo Petro on his X.

TAIWAN AND INTEL DEAL

Trump has threatened Taiwan with a 15 percent blanket tariff on its exports, unless semiconductor giant TSMC agrees to purchase a 49 percent stake in Intel and pour $400 billion into the US economy.

SURPRISE FOR NEW ZEALAND

In a sudden escalation, the Trump administration raised tariffs on New Zealand exports from 10 to 15 percent, drawing sharp criticism from finance minister Nicola Willis, who called it a “very blunt formula." Despite a longstanding friendship and trade imbalance already favouring the US, New Zealand finds itself penalised.

Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)

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