Trump the Pushover

Donald Trump likes to portray himself asstrong man. A hard, tough man who stands up to the rest of the world, tweets itlike it is and puts America first. The evidential facts tell a different story. Trump is increasingly becoming the puppet of anti-democratic strongmensuch as Turkish President Erdogan, Hungarian Prime Minister Orban and Russia’sVladimir Putin who use the American president’s craving for acceptance tomanipulate him for their own ends. 

Trump grew up in the New York borough ofQueens when it was the first stop for the latest generation of immigrantsstruggling to survive in the land of opportunity.  The denizens ofManhattan looked down on Queens and all who dwelt there. Trump was determinedto show the descendants of the Vanderbilts and Astors.  He would makebillions; marry super models; become a reality TV star; plaster his name in40ft high letters across giant skyscrapers and, finally, become president ofthe United States.

He wasn’t a strong man. He was a failedbusinessman who suffered six bankruptcies and was shunned by the New Yorkaristocracy he courted. His life has been one long struggle against adebilitating inferiority complex. And like so many second-raters who seekjustification through the accumulation of power and money he has sought theadvice, approval and company of those who are truly powerful and ruthless.Nowhere is this more evident than in Trump’s policy in Eastern Europe.  

On 13 May Hungarian Prime Minister ViktorOrban had a 45-minute meeting with Donald Trump in the Oval Office. A meetingat the White House is no small matter. It is a much sought after honour whichimplicitly bestows on the visitor the presidential seal of approval. Hisaudience was opposed by Trump’s national security advisers but pushed by Chiefof Staff Mick Mulvaney. The security advisers made it clear that Orban shouldbe blocked because he has politicised the Hungarian judiciary; taken control ofthe media; changed the electoral system to favour his party, adopted a strongpro-Russian stand; is rabidly anti-immigrant and euro-sceptic.

The State Department, National SecurityCouncil and others thought that Orban’s basic values and actions conflictedwith American values  and could send the wrong message to America’straditional allies and Congress. But Orban’s values did not conflict withTrump’s. He was keen to meet a strong personality who could get things done. AsDavid Cornstein, Trump’s  Ambassador to Budapest said: “I can tell you,knowing the president for a good 25 or 30 years, that he would love to have thepower that Viktor Orban enjoys…..”

Orban took his meeting opportunity to attackcorruption in Ukraine. Mind you, there is a lot to criticise. TransparencyInternational ranks Ukraine 120 out of 180 on its country by country corruptionscale. Some 67 percent of the population have said that they have had to paybribes at some point or another to police, health workers or educationofficials. Volodmy Zelsnky, who was swept into office 17 days after Orban’sWhite House visit, came to power on a strong anti-corruption ticket.  Mindyou, Orban’s administration has its own corruption problems.  TransparencyInternational ranks it at 64th out of 180 countries,

But the Hungarian Prime Minister had a hiddenagenda in Washington. His real aim was to create conditions which would lead toUkraine to hiving off its southern Zakarpattia province which is dominated byethnic Hungarians. Since the end of the 19^th century Zakarpattia hasbounced between the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakiaand finally, after World War II, the Ukraine, which was then promptly absorbedinto the USSR until independence in 1991. Orban claims that the roughly 160,000ethnic Hungarians are being oppressed by the Kiev government and would like tosee Zakarpattia annexed by Hungary in the same way that Putin has annexed theCrimea and Eastern Ukraine.

There is no real evidence to support Orban’sclaims of oppression. Hungarian language and culture is taught in Ukrainianschools in ethnic Hungarian areas and many ethnic Hungarians have dualHungarian and Ukrainian nationality. But Orban needs to keep feeding the firesof populist nationalism to stay on top at home and so he stokes the flameswherever and whenever he can—including with President Trump at the White House.

Trump, was all ears. Partly because headmired strong man Orban and partly because he knew that Hunter Biden had beenworking for the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma. The sequential line ofthinking could easily have gone like this: Orban convinces Trump that Ukraineis riddled with corruption; Trump knows (or learns) that Hunter Biden workedfor a Ukrainian company; ergo the younger Biden must be corrupt;  Ukraineneeds military assistance; Trump holds back  the assistance until Zelenskyagrees to launch a public inquiry into corruption by the elder and youngerBidens; the whistle blower toots that the president is using government money;to extort personal political gain; Congress reacts; Trump doubles down; Ukraineand Zelensky is dragged into the mess and is further destabilised and Orbangrabs the chance to protect Ukraine’s ethnic Hungarians.

Trump loves a strong man. Trump listens tostrong men who get things done because they are unfettered by democraticchains. What he fails to understand isthat these ruthless populists have aslogan similar to his: Hungary first, Russia First, North Korea first, Turkeyfirst… They care nothing about the American president or the American people.

Tom Arms is a regular contributor to the Whatandthewhy.com, broadcasts for American radio and is working on a major book about Anglo-American relations.