Profile Of Donald Trump: Dealmaker-in-Chief Who Thrived On Conflict

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd November, 2020) President Donald Trump, one of the most controversial and divisive leaders in US history, sparked an unprecedented number of scandals, made an enemy of the mainstream media, and shook America's political establishment to its core - all in one presidential term. Yet, somehow, he survived and - in many cases - benefited from these ordeals. In the end, despite a volatile personality and penchant for belligerent rhetoric, he used his business acumen to reach historic trade and peace deals, the likes of which his predecessors failed to achieve.

Trump, a New York billionaire, real estate magnate, and former reality television star, has been a controversial figure because of his brash style, often insulting rhetoric, and the unique way he used the English language. However, the main reason he has been despised in Washington is because he is an outsider - a businessman who broke the mold of the typical politician.

When Trump first announced he was running in June of 2015, no one seriously believed he would become the president. The Republican establishment was reluctant to back him while Hillary Clinton led in some polls by more than 30 points.

Opponents and the media, at first, had failed to see the extent to which his blunt messages - especially calls for stricter immigration policies - resonated with working class voters.

He also spoke like no other politician in US history, repeatedly using words like "nice" or "beautiful" or "great." Trump said his administration would build a "big, beautiful wall," on the border with Mexico as part of his tougher immigration policy.

Trump created clever nicknames for world leaders and rivals. He called North Korean leader Kim Jong-um "rocketman," labeled his rival in the 2016 election "Crooked Hillary," and current Democratic challenger Joe Biden has been dubbed "Sleepy Joe."

Trump was the ultimate showman with a high opinion of himself. He boasted on a daily basis via tweets, in interviews or talking to reporters before hopping on a chopper.

"People love me. And you know what, I have been very successful. Everybody loves me," Trump said in an interview with CNN just weeks after announcing his candidacy in the summer of 2015.

After about a three-day hospital stay for COVID-19 treatment, Trump said he felt better than he had in decades and warned Americans not to be frightened of the pandemic because the United States has the best equipment.

"I'm back because I am a perfect physical specimen and I'm extremely young. And so I'm lucky in that way," Trump said.

Trump engaged in an unprecedented war with the media, accusing them of biased coverage. The president said he turned to Twitter to bypass the media and communicate directly with the American people.

The term "fake news" became a worldwide sensation and even entered the English dictionary in 2017, largely because of Trump.

"So they caught Fake News CNN cold, but what about NBC, CBS & ABC? What about the failing @nytimes & @washingtonpost? They are all Fake News!" Trump said in a tweet less than six months after taking office.

As the penultimate businessman, Trump's Primary focus upon taking office was the economy, including delivering on his promise to reduce the country's trade deficit.

This agenda led him to ignite trade wars, imposing steep tariffs on billions of Dollars' worth of imports from countries like China and even traditional US allies in Europe.

In the end, Trump succeeded in renegotiating trade agreements with China, Canada, Mexico and the European Union. Even Trump's biggest critics in Congress embraced the tariffs and trade deals, which were popular with many working class voters.

Trump had achieved one of the most impressive rates of economic recovery and growth in modern US history before the pandemic.

This achievement had become a key plan of his re-election platform. In fact, he often says the economy is still doing well despite the massive pandemic-induced job losses.

"So we built the greatest economy in history. We closed it down because of the China plague," Trump said in his first presidential debate against Biden in September. "Now we're reopening and we're doing record business. We had 10.4 million people in a four month period that we've put back into the workforce. That's a record the likes of which nobody's ever seen before."

Trump, despite his bellicose rhetoric and saber-rattling was the first president in 40 years not to start any new wars or major additional overseas military deployments during his time in office.

He opened up nuclear talks with North Korea and brokered historic peace deals between Israel and several Arab Gulf countries. Trump boldly initiated direct negotiations with the Taliban and reduced troop levels in Afghanistan to wind down America's 19-year role in the war. He also ordered a partial withdrawal of troops from Syria despite resistance from both parties of Congress. However, Trump has offset this by keeping an almost equal number of troops in Syria to protect the oil.

Trump made a valid point after some expressed outrage that he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, pointing out that his predecessor, then-President Barack Obama, was actually awarded the honor before even taking office. Obama, after winning the "peace" prize, would go onto authorize a massive troop surge in Afghanistan, the arming of extremists in Syria, and intervention in Libya. Obama also grew George W. Bush's drone program and boosted the number and scope of targeted killings to new heights.

Trump, as he promised on the campaign trail, exited a record number of international treaties, including the Paris climate pact, the Open Skies Treaty, and the Iran nuclear deal. He cut funding to the World Health Organization in the middle of a global pandemic and threatened to sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC). The Trump administration quit the UN human rights council and defunded the Palestine relief agency, to name just a few examples.

Trump, who called NATO "obsolete" on the campaign trail, repeatedly pressed other members to pay more dues and even punished Berlin by pulling around 12,000 troops from Germany. However, Trump would later say that NATO is no longer obsolete.

The US president also repeatedly said he wanted to improve relations with Moscow, yet the relationship has hit a low point.

"Getting along with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. I fully expect that someday we will have good relations with Russia again!" Trump tweeted in January of 2019.

He pulled the United States out of the 1987 Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty and presided over the biggest US military buildup in 35 years.

Overall, one could even argue that Trump was lucky not to start a new war. His administration backed a failed coup in Venezuela and bombed Syria over unproven allegations of chemical weapons use. Moreover, he almost started a war with Iran through militaristic policies, including ordering the assassination of the country's top military leader, Qasem Soleimani.

Trump and his administration were plagued by an unprecedented number of scandals, some of which began before he was even elected. For more than three years Trump was under investigation for allegedly conspiring with Russia to get elected and accusations that he threatened to freeze aid if Kiev failed to investigate political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter's business deals with a Ukraine gas company.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe wrapped up after two years, and concluded that no evidence was found that Russia and the Trump campaign had colluded.

However, the scandal over Ukraine aid led to impeachment proceedings. Despite the Democratic-controlled House indicting Trump over the matter, the Republican-controlled Senate ended up acquitting him of the charges,

His personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, was convicted for lying under oath. Cohen told authorities Trump directed him to give "hush" money to a porn actress over a marital affair.

At one point, Trump was under probe by more congressional committees than any president in history from possible tax evasion to abuse of government resources.

During a live presser in Helsinki in 2018, alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump stunned the media and political establishment by backing Putin's word over that of the US intelligence community when it came to election meddling.

"[Putin] just said it's not Russia," Trump said. "I will say this: 'I don't see any reason why it would be.'"