Trump’s dealmaking style on the international front
Trump put out a book on the subject back in 1987, The Art of the Deal. That’s almost forty years ago, so you can’t say he’s kept his methods a secret.
But when Trump first ran for president, I was skeptical that his acumen in real estate deal-making would transfer over into the world of politics in all its manifestations, including statecraft with other nations. But early on in his first term I was pleased to note that the carryover was far better than I’d expected.
Now, in Trump’s second term, it’s even more clear.
I’m well aware that the present deal may end up in more fighting rather than peace; Hamas is already fighting (and murdering) rival Gazans, for example. But what Trump did seemed impossible just a short while ago, and that was this: he got Hamas to surrender all the living hostages. Yes, thousands of terrorists were exchanged, but that had been offered before by Israel and refused by Hamas. Trump changed the equation by marshaling some of Hamas’ erstwhile allies to put pressure on it, as well as by letting Netanyahu fight more aggressively and assisting him along the way (particularly in Iran).
Failure is an orphan and success has many fathers, and so Blinken and Biden and Warren and other Democrats say they were instrumental in this plan. But they were not. The were unwilling or unable to do those two very important things, and therefore the pressure on Hamas was inadequate.
I think the following is the best analysis I’ve seen of Trump’s deal-making approach to foreign affairs. I’ve cued up the part I mean, which lasts about fourteen minutes:
And by the way, I have little doubt that the peace plan implementation will not go smoothly, and that the IDF or some other entity or entities will have to go further into Gaza to disarm Hamas. That’s almost a given. But Trump’s genius was to get all the living hostages out in one fell swoop first, and to get some of Hamas’ financial backers to (supposedly) back off.
Yes, Hamas won’t be surrendering all the weapons they have. But they will find it much more difficult to replace them, and impossible to rebuild the extensive tunnel system they had in areas they lost. The money simply won’t be there.
Trump will also be able to highlight the hypocrisy of those who demanded a deal and are now silent, or kvetching about the terms.
I listened to it – great stuff So Trump succeeded using seven talents or tactics/strategies – my synopsis:
#1 – He uses unconventional envoys like Witkoff and Kushner
Translation – He shut out the useless, Woke Left US State Department and Woke NGO’s – all Left Wing clowns. He ignores the “experts.”
#2 – Trump is fine blurring business and diplomacy
Translation – “Corruption” “Corruption” screams The Left.
It gets Trump leverage.
“You can’t put a Real Estate Developer in Charge of Foreign Affairs.”
Trump says, yes I can, “lets do business.”
#3 – Trump reads people very well. Ignores long State Dept. reports
Translation: “Hey, you want a photo op with me?” says, Trump
“You guys need American fighter jets?”
“What do you want to make a deal?”
#4 – Trump is not afraid of criticism
Translation: Lawsuits, Mocked, impeached, indicted, contempt, lampooned but Trump always gets the last laugh. His enemies think all this criticism is the WIN, Trump knows noise from results and laughs at the losers going after him. “Hey they are still talking about me.” That’s a win for Trump. He’s Teflon. He is in their heads.
#5 – Trump is a Master of Tactical ambiguity
Translation – Clarity is a loser. He is constantly using exaggeration and sows confusion. Let them think I might do it. Screws with their heads. Mystery sells. Game is played on his board
#6 – Trump is a master of spectacle and Showmanship
Translation – He owns the situation before you even have started to negotiate with him. He has already set you up. In The Knesset speech it was like Moses walked in. It’s over before it begins. All the great images. Winning the news schedule
#7 – Trump frames story before the facts are discussed
Translation – Truth Social: “Here comes the deal of the Millennium” – “Watch what I am going to accomplish – it will wonderful, amazing, best you have ever seen.”
He owns them by framing the story while his adversaries are still on a jet to the meeting. Who gets the first and last word and best photograph? He does.
His Foreign Policy is 80% Theatre – 10% Luck and 10% pretending you did something, that you did by accident.
My take:
To my mind he is easily the world’s greatest magician. He has you looking in the wrong place every single time and then out pops the rabbit from nowhere. You can’t help but applaud him.
The best thing about him beside his successes?
The people he irritates and drives totally mad. Beautiful
With the living hostages released, Hamas is without its most valuable bargaining chip. Now there is no need for the IDF to give warnings of attacks since they don’t have to worry about injuring the hostages. They will be free to do what needs to be done when it comes time to enforce the weapons-turn-in clause of the agreement. There is almost zero chance Hamas will comply with that. The mythical “innocent Gazan” will have to take care of his own safety this time.
What Trump has shown, IMO, is that outworking your opponents and trying to actually get things done worked for him in business, and it translates to governing.
His approach to foreign leaders is to get to know them, their strengths and weaknesses, and leverage that knowledge into working with them. The grand tour he put on in Israel and Egypt was emblematic of the way his style draws other leaders to work with him. It’s really remarkable.
I think he really does see the world as a big real estate development. His idea is that, rather than fight one another, let’s try to make deals that will improve the standard of living for everyone.
Never underestimate the power of greed. Trump sold them on the vision of all the wealth to me made in Gaza by those who get there first. They just have to give Israel her people and stop attacking Israel for the time being. The deal is let’s get richer together.
“I’m well aware that the present deal may end up in more fighting rather than peace;”
Not more fighting. This future fighting has been baked into the cake from day one. Hamas must be eradicated if Israel is to have any hope of “peace”. NEVER AGAIN means Hamas dalenda est.
Do we know for sure that Hamas did not kill any of the last remaining hostages before releasing the living ones they DID release?
Fun story. Melania apparently read his book before going out with him. She played hard to get. Wouldn’t give him her phone number, but accepted his, then waited a couple weeks to cal him back. Etc. And it worked.
betsybounds:
Israel has had fairly good intelligence on the hostages for quite some time. I remember hearing months ago that they knew how many were still alive. Hamas knew they knew, and I think Trump knew as well. So Hamas knew there would be negative repercussions if they killed any of them.
Not more fighting. This future fighting has been baked into the cake from day one. Hamas must be eradicated if Israel is to have any hope of “peace”. NEVER AGAIN means Hamas dalenda est.
And it isn’t just Hamas, it is Palestinians AND Islam.
However, from what I understand of this deal, Trump is working the countries in the region to support, the main deal isn’t with Hamas but with the Gulf states, Turkey, etc. Since Iran and Hezbollah are wounded and degraded, Assad is out, most of what remains were states Trump could apply leverage.
The one-two punch was Israel taking out Hezbollah and diminishing Iran, in combo with Trump’s diplomacy which was rooted in strength. The region respects strength.
The Obama / Biden (or whoever was in charge) approach of weakness, support for Iran, and two state solutions was never going to work. This is what makes claims by Blinken, etc., so funny.
You are right, obviously, Don that Israel did most of the work but the US strikes on IRI nuclear facilities in June were an indispensable piece of the puzzle. Not only militarily but for making it clear where we stood as a nation. Needless to say that never would have happened under the Obama Gang aka US Democrat party.
@ Don: “And it isn’t just Hamas, it is Palestinians AND Islam.” +++++!!
Except that for quite some time—and up to shortly before the “deal” was “struck”—it was widely reported that the number of living hostages was over forty.
(Oh well…c’est la vie?)
The whole deranged business is gruesome, ghoulish, disgusting.
Let’s give the poor suffering victims a state, though, so that they can REALLY start “settling accounts”—with one another but especially with the ZIO-NAZIS, who’ve already offered them a state several times…(keeping in mind that a) the ZIOs cannot give their Partners in Peace(TM) anything that the latter can, or will accept, and b) the ZIOs, since they have no right to ANY of “the land” have NO RIGHT OR ABILITY to actually give any of it back…)
Barry Meislin:
You are incorrect on the numbers.
We’ve known for many months that it’s close to 20 or in the low 20s. I imagine Israel has known for longer than that. I can’t say when 20-something living hostages was first reported, but it was a long time ago.
Here are a few articles I found very quickly in a search:
For example, here’s an AP article dated June 22, 2025. Here’s a quote from it:
Here’s an even earlier article from NPR, May 7, 2025. A quote:
And here’s an article even earlier, dated March 18, 2025, that says this:
Well I still think we need to remember that the pen-ultimate Palestinian/Arab/Muslim goal is Israel’s elimination; it is a part of their ultimate goal of imposing worldwide Islamic control. Accordingly, they are happy to take a temporary break under Donald Trump’s allegedly brilliant peace accord and use it to increase their own strength. They have, collectively, done that same thing numerous times before. And Trump is an obvious sucker for it.
Surrounding Muslim states recognize the corrosive effect of Hamas/Salafi/Brotherhood movements on their own states’ security. This is not entirely hudna on their part; it’s self-preservation.
“I was skeptical that his acumen in real estate deal-making would transfer over into the world of politics”
I believe many people tend to view “big” things as more complicated as they really are.
There’s a reason that Trump’s 1987 book was and is still one of the most popular and widely read books in many realms other than just real estate and business. It was on many of my Commanding Officer’s recommended reading lists in many of the military commands in which I served.
Trump is possessed of an unusual level of common sense for someone who has lived the life of privilege he’s experienced. If you don’t know, Trump ensured his kids who wanted to get into the family business started at the bottom. When they were young, they worked on construction sites as general workers, getting dirty in the trenches, before he ever let them think about entering the executive suites. This leads me to believe he was likely raised the same way, which explains his ability to connect to the “common man” and the respect and kindness he reportedly displays towards people who work for and serve him.
That common sense, combined with his innate intelligence and cunning, enable him to cut through the BS and see the problem in simple terms and, thereby, reach effective solutions.
I’m not particularly fond of Trump’s personality, but no one can argue about his effectiveness. He generally gets the job done, and when he fails, it’s definitely not for lack of trying.
betsybounds:
Did you watch the video? If not, I suggest you do so. Trump says certain things for effect, but he is not at all naive.
He is well aware of the possibility and even probability of the phenomenon you mention.
I assumed, wrongly as it turns out, that “48 captives” means 48 living captives…
“Trump hosts former hostages at White House;
“The president reiterated his commitment to bringing all 48 captives home.”—
https://www.jns.org/trump-meets-former-hostages-at-white-house/
FOAF on October 15, 2025 at 10:58 pm said:
You are right, obviously, Don that Israel did most of the work but the US strikes on IRI nuclear facilities in June were an indispensable piece of the puzzle. Not only militarily but for making it clear where we stood as a nation. Needless to say that never would have happened under the Obama Gang aka US Democrat party.
Fully agree.
Kate on October 16, 2025 at 7:15 am said:
Surrounding Muslim states recognize the corrosive effect of Hamas/Salafi/Brotherhood movements on their own states’ security. This is not entirely hudna on their part; it’s self-preservation.
Yes. Obama actually did (accidently) do some good with his Iran outreach, it helped push the Gulf states and Israel together, setting things up for Trump’s Abraham accords.
betsybounds on October 16, 2025 at 6:35 am said:
Well I still think we need to remember that the pen-ultimate Palestinian/Arab/Muslim goal is Israel’s elimination; it is a part of their ultimate goal of imposing worldwide Islamic control. Accordingly, they are happy to take a temporary break under Donald Trump’s allegedly brilliant peace accord and use it to increase their own strength. They have, collectively, done that same thing numerous times before. And Trump is an obvious sucker for it.
This reflects a shallow understanding of events. There are actors in the Muslim world who fully understand the threat of Islam and who are trying to achieve moderation. MBS, for example. He has to be careful with his moves, and it matters how much he can count on the US president. He couldn’t count on Biden for much but Trump is a different story.
The Islamic world isn’t uniform. Making inroads with potential allies in the region makes sense.
Starving hostages for the greater glory of Islam…while clamoring (to a believing choir) that your enemies are starving you…seems to work pretty well in the current Through-the-Looking-Glass reality.
(To be sure we’ve already seen Erdogan claim—with great conviction if zero credibility—that Islam does not commit or condone massacres…and never has…)
“Hamas Offered Starving Hostages More Food If They Converted To Islam — And They Refused”—
https://blazingcatfur.ca/2025/10/16/hamas-offered-starving-hostages-more-food-if-they-converted-to-islam-and-they-refused/
@ Neo > “You are incorrect on the numbers.”
Thanks for once again doing the kind of fact-checking that the media seldom does, especially if the facts conflict with their narrative.
The Right-blogs are somewhat better at correcting their own errors, but not much.
That’s one of the reasons I like this comment section: we are all open to having our understanding of the facts corrected (our opinions, not so much….) 😉
AesopFan on October 16, 2025 at 6:18 pm:
@ Neo > “You are incorrect on the numbers.” …
“That’s one of the reasons I like this comment section: we are all open to having our understanding of the facts corrected (our opinions, not so much….)”
But … but … that is the best evidence that we are not just all bots!! 🙂
indirectly related: From Blaze Media: https://www.theblaze.com/news/chinese-sim-farms-are-radicalizing-americans-and-destabilizing-society-intel-experts-say
Some here are probably more aware of this type of thing than most folks, including me. But now we really have to continually ask “is the commenter with whom I am “conversing” a real person or a CCP bot?”
There must be something to Trump’s negotiating style and practice that is superior to the usual courses you might take on negotiation.
Perhaps it includes
1) a much greater time and effort strategizing for a given opponent, and really laying the ground work to implement that strategy prior to any face to face or assistant to assistant level meetings.
2) a greater willingness to actually walk away, or to make moves that more firmly suggest a willingness to walk away. Part of just not being a universally “nice guy” may play into that, too. And the real or feigned “I am your friend when you are mine” bon homie that also is part of his public persona.
3) really focusing on the possible win-win options and trying to avoid any sense of a winner-loser situation, unless you have been disloyal or “unfair” in your dealings with him [e.g., Bolton, Comey, et al.].
Some of this is a repeat of the ideas provided by John Galt III on October 15, 2025 at 4:45 pm.
You do know that Trump himself did not write “The Art of the Deal”?
BrooklynBoy also chases The Great Orange Whale. Keeps him off the street and from playing in traffic I suppose.
BrooklynBoy:
Not only that, but everyone knows it who’s ever looked at the book, which cites both Trump and the other writer as authors. It’s not a secret. But Trump isn’t being praised for his literary style, which is what the other author lent. The ideas are Trump’s, and he’s demonstrated them in action during his life.