As if by brute force, Donald Trump has opened up several fronts within just two weeks of taking office. Starting from the executive order to pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, he then banned entry of citizens of seven Muslims countries and angered Mexican people and leaders by suggesting a 20 percent tax on their imports to finance a controversial border wall.
In one of the poems by famous American poet Robert Frost, the protagonist tries to argue with his neighbor who is building a wall to demarcate the boundary but fails to convince him. The neighbor repeatedly asserts that “good fences make good neighbors.” Mr. Trump might have keenly read the poem. That is why he is trying to erect a physical wall and several unseen fences to keep out the people he considers unwanted.
I am not sure if he will be able to keep everyone out. At least he cannot confine the anger and raging sentiments against his disturbing philosophy. And surely he cannot clip the wings of ideas and information that easily transcend the boundaries he is trying to erect. America itself was an idea for the immigrants who had escaped the confines of Europe and found a place where freedom could flourish.
Mr. Trump’s unbridled recklessness is linked with his obsession that every migrant is a terrorist. He is so consumed by this that he has decided to flout a commitment by his predecessor Barack Obama to take several hundred immigrants from Australia.
Mr. Trump believes in doing things in his own way, no matter how provocative and irritating that might sound to others. For example, while referring to the agreement with Australia, he tweeted that he would like to read the “dumb deal.”
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As a matter of fact, every nation has a right to take measures to shore up its security in the age of terrorism. But using militancy as a pretext to create a cage would be a very dumb idea.
It shows that Mr. Trump has unleashed a new brand of war. He is at war with the media, with Congress, with his political opponents, his critics, minorities, immigrants, his allies in Europe and elsewhere, key trade partners of the United States and everybody else.
They are new wars, vastly different from the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq by George Bush and the hot pursuit of militants through drones and targeted actions by Barack Obama. Mr. Trump wants to fulfill every tall promise he made with the people. I wonder if he was sure to be on the winning side while making unrealistic commitments to please the ultra-conservatives.
He was wrong to make promises that could only be realized at the cost of huge damage to the international standing of the U.S. But trying to fulfill those promises would be making the same mistake twice. Politics is the art of the possible. Even the voters know what a leader can do. Instead of fighting everyone and wasting energy, the president should focus on the economy so that lives of average Americans improve.
The immediate result of Mr. Trump’s actions and rhetoric is the bitter division visible in the country. How will he be able to regain the American glory when everyday hundreds and thousands of people have taken to the streets against his polices. The first condition for development is not just peace but “positive peace,” if I can use a term from Johan Galtung, a great advocate of peace.
Mr. Trump should try to mend fences instead of making fences by getting into arguments and conflicts. By doing what he is doing, the president will make the job of his detractors very easy.
Sajjad Malik is a columnist with China.org.cn
