By Jeffrey A. Rendall
Donald Trump’s unconventional leadership style confounds friends and enemies alike
Ask President Donald J. Trump a question and expect an answer.
The country has come to know Trump as a straight shooter. We don’t always get the replies we’re anticipating – or would like to hear – but the man appears incapable of beating around the bush and loves mixing it up with the media.
These are admirable qualities – except when they’re not. Keeping everyone wondering what Trump will do and say today is just the way he operates.
In a newsletter post titled, “Can Trump cut through the fog and focus on Iran goal?”, Byron York wrote at the Washington Examiner last week:
“Referring to the top officials standing behind him at a White House news conference — CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine — Trump said, ‘These people know what the plan is.… They have a plan. Every single thing has been thought out by all of us. But I can’t reveal the plan to the media.’
“What to make of the president’s statement? His critics dismiss it, saying that Trump is constantly improvising and has no coherent strategy. Trump’s defenders say there is always a plan, even if Trump sees a strategic value in keeping it a secret.
“Over the years, it has sometimes been called ‘the Fog of Trump.’ The president, the Free Press’s Eli Lake wrote, ‘is doing his best to confuse the enemy and the rest of the world.’”
As York pointed out in his piece, Trump’s ambiguous messaging methodology has confused everyone, our Iranian enemies included. Supporters who’ve followed Trump his entire political career, such as myself, are at a loss to explain his behavioral variations at times. Lately, it’s become more and more difficult to make heads or tails of his impromptu declarations.
Perhaps all of this can be dumbed-down and synopsized through a recollection from my youth:
“I speak softly, but I carry a BIG stick!” I recall a Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes cartoon where the animated wisecracking rabbit dressed up as Teddy Roosevelt and recited the early 20th century president’s famous 
mantra to add emphasis to a speech in his comedy campaign for mayor.
At that instant, Yosemite Sam replied in his signature voice, “Oh yeah? Well I speak loouuud, and I carry a biiigger stick! And I use it too!” before bashing the unsuspecting bunny with the make-believe device. Good ol’ fashioned cartoon violence. We American kids grew up on it.
In this illustration, President Trump plays the part of Yosemite Sam.
Donald Trump isn’t a cartoon character and his pronouncements are rarely delivered in a non-calm voice, but he’s caused quite a stir among Democrats and the establishment media’s political commentating class by speaking directly and forcefully to foreigners about the United States’ capabilities and willingness to use power to achieve our nation’s goals.
Though supporters and adversaries alike sometimes wish there was more of a rhyme or reason to the things Trump does… and says.
Having carefully fostered a reputation for quick/impulsive decision-making and unpredictability, particularly in his second non-consecutive term, I think Donald Trump relies on others’ sense of instability to keep potential enemies always guessing and therefore, eternally off-balance.
It’s the same way Trump approaches politics, whether it was Ted Cruz in the 2016 GOP primaries or cackling Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
Simply stated, the other guy/gal never really knows what Trump’s going to do. And therein lies Trump’s genius. Famous/notorious for flatly stating what his actions are going to be, the enemy can’t decipher if Trump merely means he’ll carry out his word in a limited fashion – or give the full cold steel, as Civil War aficionados used to refer to.
One way or another, Trump’s presidency has entirely transformed and sharpened the world’s understanding of American power. Whereas many foreign leaders – including, probably, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping – formerly regarded America as a mostly toothless tiger that could viciously fight back and defend itself but not lash out of turn, they likely never surmised that the United States was as good at war as the Free World’s fighting forces have proven to be in the past year or so.
Theory met reality in Iran in June of last year, Venezuela earlier this year and Iran’s leaders and military recently. The nearly half-century’s worth of resources Iranians plowed into projecting power were decimated in a matter of weeks. Will we miss the parades and demonstrations of scary looking weapons from the rogue Ayatollah rulers?
Donald Trump may have bragged about how good the American men and women would be, but the proof is now in the pudding. It’s never been in question that the U.S. could take on “lesser” militaries and beat them handily. But now that the Americans have chosen to challenge a mid-major power like Iran and basically level them without sustaining demoralizing casualties themselves… well, that’s different.
It’s probably the foreigners’ biggest fear – namely, the ability of an enemy to reach them anywhere, anytime, and with confounding accuracy – that’s kept the reprobates up at night. By all appearances, there isn’t anywhere or anyone that the U.S. can’t reach if the brains plan it out beforehand. And practice the maneuvers, which makes perfect.
Granted, the most powerful “enemy” militaries (again, think Russia and China) are mighty proficient in their own right, and going up against them would engender exponentially more cost (in terms of casualties) and expense. But Trump has sent a message that he doesn’t mess around. Bloody the nose of the American fighting forces and get ready to get your butt kicked in the most obvious of ways.
Who would’ve ever thought Iran would be such a pushover as they’ve turned out to be? For nearly five decades the mullahs have used fear and threats – and clandestine operations like planting IED’s and terrorizing innocents – to convince American leaders that it wouldn’t be worth the cost to challenge them on their own soil.
That’s why obtaining a nuclear weapon was so important to the mullahs. The Islamic Republic’s leaders watched North Korea dictator Kim Jong Un internationally punch above his weight because he possessed nuclear capability. They in turn desperately sought the means to deliver a long-range threat to the “Great Satan” and its allies.
Had Donald Trump lost the 2024 election, the Iranians might have gained the necessary years to do just that. Instead, Trump did win, and he’s used his authority to pound foreign enemies into the dust without long-term conventional military deployments or risking severe losses to a lesser power.
Yes, Iran has shown that it’s good at killing on a small scale. But the Islamic renegades’ hubris and boasts were no match for the United States’ technological innovations. And training. If anything’s been evident during Trump’s second term, it’s the fact that the U.S. military is even more lethal than was assessed before. We launch attacks and blow stuff up in large quantities. We’re bad (in a good way, of course).
Will the U.S.’s success completely alter the world’s balance of power? Unlikely. But one would speculate that America is well on the way to achieving its own version of Israel’s “Golden Dome” to protect itself. But I still wouldn’t want it tested in hostile conditions. And I doubt Donald Trump does, either.
The Russians have always been great at killing, primarily because they have little regard for sustaining casualties of their own. In the game “Axis and Allies”, Russia kept its status as a major war player in WWII because it had manpower and the willingness to sacrifice them to win. No wonder the Nazis were crushed at Stalingrad. The Russians drowned them in blood.
That’s a risk the United States is unwilling to accept now. Directly challenging Russia would be too costly. But showing Putin how proficient we are at minimizing mid-level threats has served its own purpose, nonetheless.
And when Donald Trump offers peace as an alternative to getting your people and stuff blown to bits, maybe it’s in your best interests to accept the overture. Just saying.
No politician will come right out and tell you what they’re going to do, but the American public would likely take to Trump’s agenda and foreign policy in greater numbers if he’d communicate a little more effectively. Trump’s ambiguity provides all the confusion he needs to succeed in foreign affairs, but regular Americans would much prefer he stick to homing in on what made the country great.
Jeff Rendall is editor and publisher of GolfintheUSA.com and has written about golf and politics for over a quarter of a century. A non-practicing attorney from California, he moved to the east coast three decades ago to pursue and combine his interests in all things American history and culture. Jeff has worked as an intern on Capitol Hill and in various capacities in grassroots organizing and conservative organizations and publications, including a nearly two-decade stint at ConservativeHQ.com. Column republishing or other inquiries: Rendall@msn.com .