Donald the dealmaker

Mar 15, 2025 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column

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Hard Truths…

By GHK Lall

Kaieteur News- The first Donald Trump is showing.  So, also, is the real one that he is at the core.  For what is Donald Trump first, if not a dealmaker supreme? The history is long and littered with bargains made, pressure situations worked out to his advantage.  From real estate to knocking heads with prosecutors to squeezing out of tight corners, the art of the deal is what has facilitated Mr. Trump still standing in one piece, and now seemingly at the top of his game.  To prove this position, I submit Volodymyr Zelensky, NATO, and Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro. Everyone should note how Mr. Trump ratchets up the pressure on those who are in a jam and do not have the muscle to fight back on their own.

The Europeans should have seen and heard President Trump coming in this, his second coming. He has always been about greater equity in carrying the defense burden.  Europe has balked, and Trump has shown his hand; his opening gambit, and knowing full well the vulnerabilities of that continent. It will take time for Europe to rebalance, and Mr. Trump has time on his side. The Europeans are not so sure of their own strength (without the comforting shadow of America on their wings).  They know also that Vladimir Putin has his ambitions, and that he has been sizing up and stalking weaker countries on his borders.  The long and short of all this is that Donald Trump holds the upper hand in the US-EU loggerheads. He may not get all that has been put on the table.  But the Europeans are hostage to his calculations, and subject to his severe arm twisting.  So, it is highly likely that Europe will cave, and that Mr. Trump will walk away with some of his demands met. In sporting terms, he is playing “hardball” and will succeed in gaining some ground. How much and how soon will come out shortly.  It is an unequal relationship; hence, I believe that the outcome is foregone.  Score one for the Don.

The world knows that without the Americans, the Ukraine of Volodymyr Zelensky is a walkover for Putin’s war machine. The Ukrainian’s victories have been built, to a considerable extent, on US support.  Even its moral support is formidable; with Mr. Trump on his side, Mr. Zelensky stands a chance. Without the backing of Trump’s America, he is up the river without a paddle.  Donald Trump knows this all too well.  But I think he has a bigger vision in mind with Putin. One that the latter is drawing him into, like the old judoka that he is: Putin is taking an opponent’s thrust and weight and using both against him. Plus, he has some skills that the American doesn’t have, for all of his worldly sophistications and exposures. The Russian is well schooled in playing the clandestine hand of a spymaster.  He holds his assets close to his chest, and never really could afford to show all of them, since his success, his very existence, depends on being covert and cagey.  Zelensky and his people are the hapless ones caught in the middle of a bigger ambition.  Trump seizes upon this and drives the hardest bargain.  First, he beats him down publicly, with a prearranged assist alongside Vice President JD Vance, who is not a politician of any notable caliber.  Having humiliated the Ukrainian, Trump now deals with him from the vantage point of the barrel of a gun to his head. Zelensky doesn’t know if it is loaded, but can’t risk finding out, as the fallout could be catastrophic for him.  The warrior in Zelensky may want to push the envelope; as the leader of a people with little going for them, he is dog meat in the hands of President Trump.

In the instance of Venezuela, Maduro could not have been in worse shape.  Despite some assistance from allies, he is up against it, with Trump in charge.  Chevron served as a lifeline of sorts; a limited one, but still a lifeline, now yanked.  First, the objective is to bring Maduro to his knees, which does not require too much horsepower, given the shape in which Venezuela is. The intent is to wring the residual oxygen out of him, and then help the stubborn Venezuelan back to his feet. Kneel, then deal. Chevron will be back, and as I foresee, it would be with a much bulkier presence.  With Venezuela pushed to the brink, the stage will be set for a greater American presence. I think that this is the endgame of the American dealmaker.  Gut and soften his opponent with the big stick a la Rough Rider Teddy Roosevelt, which renders him ready to come to terms.  The terms of America’s Donald Trump, master pressurizer and dealmaker.  Kick a man long enough, and before long he will holler, “Surrender.”

Mr. Trump can make all the deals he wants in the wider world out there.  My anxieties begin if he were to cast his eyes here. There is political intransigence, a border migraine, and a leadership crisis here.  Guyana looks ripe for the plucking.  Further plucking.

(Donald the dealmaker)

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

 

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• Donald Trump, enezuela’s Nicolás Maduro., hard truths, Volodymyr Zelensky

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