Trump’s Principle Is “No Principle”

 Trump’s Principle Is “No Principle”

China Times Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)

  February 18, 2017

 Translation of an Except

President Trump has assumed office for nearly a month. In his diplomatic operations, he clearly exhibited characteristics of his uniquely American, high-profile utilitarianism. As a utilitarian, he often has at the same time characteristics of flexibility, pragmatism, and above all materialism. The core spirit of pragmatism lies in pragmatically solving problems in order to achieve concrete objectives.

Trump’s diplomacy also has lucid utilitarian characteristics: in order to achieve the objective of what he defined as "America first," Trump has no framework, nor restrictions. Under the thinking of priority in solving problems in order to achieve objectives, “no principle” is the fundamental principle. For everything in diplomacy, Trump sounds the gongs and beats the drums, exhibiting egotistic self-confidence and making a lot of loud noises. Furthermore, because of his utilitarian thinking, Trump’s diplomacy has no limits—he would speak loudly for everything and for everything he could re-adjust with rationality and justification as long as it conforms with the objectives of the deal he has set up beforehand.

It is not yet known whether such diplomatic maneuverings on the part of Trump would be adjusted with the passing of days in his administration. One thing is certain, though, any foreign government that needs to deal with the United States must have an understanding with regard to this feature of the Trump administration. When a commitment is no longer a commitment, when the rules may be rewritten at any time, Taiwan also needs to learn how to cope with this kind of United States. Preparedness in coping with "Trump’s next step" is probably more important than interpreting "Trump’s current step." Conducting well war room drills and preparing all possible back-up plans will ensure smooth sailing for Taiwan in the treacherous waters in the trilateral relationship among Washington, Beijing and Taipei, whatever happened to the Tsai-Trump phone call or the Xi Jinping-Trump hotline.

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