Inside the mind of a second Donald Trump

We expected that the second Trump would be calmer than the first Trump due to experience and age. However, not even a month into his new presidency, the American president has not given us a moment to catch our breath with his decisions, appointments, and statements. We can now get inside his mind and anticipate what might happen in the coming years.

For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

Now we understand why Trump chose to exclude all experienced and competent figures from his new administration. Figures like former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, General James Mattis, known as “Mad Dog,” and National Security Advisor Henry McMaster, among many others, were all ignored. In their place, he appointed less experienced figures like Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth or overly loyal and fanatical individuals like Kash Patel, who is being considered for the position of FBI Director. The reason is now clear, especially after we heard the proposal to displace the residents of Gaza and turn it into a “Riviera.”

Trump wants complete control over his administration without opposition.

No one in his new administration has opposed him, corrected him, modified his plans, or even asked him a simple question: “What do the people of Gaza have to do with October 7? They have already paid a heavy price in blood, including the blood of their children, and now they are being displaced.” Naturally, no one dared to warn him that such a proposal was like throwing a fireball into a gas-filled room. This is precisely what the previous administration figures would have done. They had challenged him in his first term and corrected his decisions – such as his attempt to withdraw from Syria after a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, or his hasty desire to pull out of Afghanistan. By removing these figures, Trump has ensured that only those who do not oppose him, or those who outbid him in loyalty, remain. These individuals feel indebted to Trump for choosing them, and thus, they cannot oppose him without facing humiliating dismissal on his social media platforms like X or Truth Social.

Trump now believes that the figures from his previous administration constrained him, caused his failures, and prevented him from achieving any significant accomplishments. Instead, they forced him into the institutional framework, leading him to make poor choices. None of this fits his vision for his new term. We are now witnessing the real performance of Trump’s play.

No one truly knows whether Trump is serious about his proposal concerning Gaza, imposing harsh taxes, altering terminology, or engaging in conflicts with allies. Is this real, or just a tactical move to pressure others into finding alternative solutions? Or is he employing the “madman theory,” acting as an uncontrollable force that takes things to the extreme, believing that such an approach will drive others to adopt equally radical options, eventually leading to acceptable compromises? In an article in Foreign Affairs, writer Roseanne McManus argues that Trump deliberately employs this theory, previously used by President Nixon, which involves adding a high degree of unpredictability to his policies, making them difficult to anticipate. This, in turn, grants him greater leverage in negotiations. Adversaries and allies alike fear that he might commit even greater blunders, leading them to give him what he wants to appease him. While this strategy may be effective, it is also highly risky and could exacerbate crises rather than resolve them.

The truth is that it is impossible to discern Trump’s true intentions. He often contradicts himself, making statements to stay at the center of global attention, only to later retract or completely change them. What Trump seeks in his new term is to operate outside the authority of institutions and political traditions – even in his interactions with world leaders and in his unconventional press conferences. He has built his reputation on dismantling the elite, despite being part of it himself. Yet, he has successfully marketed himself to his supporters as an outsider and an adversary to the establishment. The resentment in American society that Trump has skillfully exploited is not directed at wealthy individuals like himself, but rather at the arrogant elites – advisors, lawyers, and Wall Street speculators in major cities – who look down on others with disdain. His ongoing attacks on the media are part of this strategy, portraying them as a “leftist elite” more concerned with immigrants than with Americans.

We do not know what is going on inside Trump’s mind. Is he truly employing the “madman theory”? But the more important question is: Will Trump weaken the global American system that has been built on strong political and economic alliances, reinforcing capitalism, boosting development rates, and connecting the world through unprecedented advancements in technology and travel, ultimately granting the world a long respite from major wars? Trump is not ideologically driven in foreign policy; his main concerns revolve around imposing tariffs and adopting protectionist policies, as if he were from the mercantilist era, where the primary focus was on amassing wealth and seizing territories. However, one thing is certain: the ideologues within his administration are determined to dismantle this global power under the pretext of returning to the past and making America “happy,” distant, and isolated from the world.

Read more:

Trumpism: Dangers and opportunities

Gaza: Between the departure of Hamas or the displacement of its residents

How does the new version of Trump think?