(The Wall Street Journal, Gerard Baker, May 5, 2026)
Donald Trump in his first term governed with an instinctive pragmatism as a businessman, favoring practical solutions over ideologies, as demonstrated by Operation Warp Speed, the Abraham Accords, and a targeted approach to China, but in the second term this approach was abandoned in favor of rigid dogmas and choices driven by personal emotions or outdated ideas.
The extreme protectionist turn on tariffs, turned into an almost religious faith, and especially the adherence to the regime change doctrine in Iran represent a clear departure from the realism of the first term, risking disastrous results just like the neoconservative adventures that Trump had criticized.
Also on the domestic front, the obsessive persecution of political opponents and pressure on the Fed are damaging the president’s own economic goals, while abroad the approach to allies has become impulsive and driven by personal resentment, depriving Washington of the flexible pragmatism that had made his first presidency effective.
Abandonment of pragmatism
“One of the factors explaining what went wrong in Donald Trump’s second term is the abandonment of pragmatism as a governing principle.”
Pragmatism of the first term
“His approach to the economy was highly practical, emphasizing what worked over what ideologues might prefer.”
Conversion to regime change
“More surprising was Trump’s conversion to the failed dogma of America as a global agent of regime change. […] But the current adventure in Iran is exactly the kind of faith-based exercise he had so deliberately avoided.”
Emotional pressure on allies
“His unorthodox approach to America’s allies was once effective. Now it is divorced from practical motivation and driven entirely by emotion and personal spite.”
Damage to the Fed and the economy
“Obsessively chasing political enemies not only destroys Republican norms and values but is actually harming his economic objectives.”
(Excerpt from the newsletter by Giuseppe Liturri)
