President Donald Trump‘s foreign policy legacy will be studied for years, but it has diverged sharply from the business-minded principles he outlined in his memoir and bestseller “The Art of the Deal.”
While these tactics might seem puzzling to some, geopolitical strategists, like BCA Research’s Chief Strategist Marko Papic, have identified patterns that can help explain Trump’s approach.
According to Papic, the president’s framework can be summarized as “7 Steps of Maximum Pressure.” The model is not designed for subtlety but for strategic theater aimed at reshaping negotiation dynamics through spectacle, escalation, and sudden reversals.
Step 1: Ask For The Moon!
Whether stating that Mexico would pay for a border wall through remittances or taxes or asking Ukraine to repay $500 billion for prior aid through a mineral resource deal, Trump typically opens negotiations with maximalist demands.
Unrealistic? Certainly. Strategic? Perhaps. As Papic would argue, it’s about moving the Overton window – the range of subjects publicly acceptable to the mainstream population at a given time.
Step 2: Whip Out Your Big… Button!
During his first term, Trump used bombastic threats to cow adversaries, famously tweeting, in January 2018, that his nuclear button was “much bigger” than North Korea’s.
Later that same year, Trump suggested that U.S. support for Taiwan could be reevaluated if China failed to make “real concessions” on trade. His first “trade war” with China wasn’t just about soybeans and steel. It was designed to show that the U.S. had a massive “button” in the form of its consumer market, which China depends on far more than vice versa.
Step 3: Punch Someone In The Mouth!
“When the world doubts you, do it!” When the …