Unmukt

Tag: donald-trump

  • Trump’s Game of Leverage: Media Victories, Strategic Losses – and How India & Russia Respond

    In the theater of global politics, Donald Trump’s method is disarmingly simple: create leverage, amplify it for media consumption, and then abandon it once the spotlight shifts. It is a style that may win headlines, but it rarely produces sustainable results.

    The Leverage-Dump Cycle

    Trump’s foreign policy, if it can be called that, revolves around momentary victories that fuel his domestic narrative. He brands himself as the master negotiator, but his “art of the deal” is often little more than tactical theater.

    • First, he identifies a pressure point – be it sanctions, tariffs, or rhetorical threats.
    • Then, he proclaims that his leverage is forcing change.
    • Finally, once the immediate headlines are secured, he abandons the issue or flips sides, leaving allies and adversaries confused and often alienated.

    The problem is that leverage only works if it is backed by consistent strategy. Trump’s version is self-referential: he creates leverage in his own mind, celebrates it, and then discards it. In the short run, it excites his political base and dominates media cycles. In the long run, it erodes trust, weakens alliances, and strengthens adversaries.

    India: Not a Pawn in Trump’s Game

    Trump’s latest attempt to pull India into his narrative is a classic example. By claiming that he had “sanctioned” India to pressure Russia, he sought to project himself as a global power broker. The reality? India’s oil trade with Russia has doubled, not diminished.

    New Delhi is not a pliable pawn in Trump’s improvisational chessboard. India’s foreign policy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is defined by strategic autonomy. Whether it is purchasing Russian oil, strengthening ties with the United States, or engaging Europe and Africa, India pursues a multi-vector approach. It will not sacrifice its national interest to fuel an American politician’s election narrative.

    This reality has eluded Trump. For him, India is often reduced to a talking point – a convenient prop in his domestic political theater. For India, however, Trump is one of many players in a world where multipolarity is the new normal.

    Russia: The Patient Player

    If Trump’s game is short-term theater, Vladimir Putin’s is long-term chess. While Trump performs for the cameras, Putin builds narratives grounded in history and sustained by military and economic realities.

    In his meetings, Putin often subjects interlocutors to history lessons stretching back decades. Trump, famously allergic to detail, cannot sit through such sessions without distraction. The asymmetry is obvious: one plays to CNN and Fox News soundbites, the other plays to centuries of Russian statecraft.

    During recent encounters, Putin allowed Trump his moments of triumph. He even threw him a “lollipop” by suggesting that had Trump been president, the Ukraine war might not have happened. It cost Putin nothing to say it, but it gave Trump a headline. Meanwhile, Russia’s fundamental objectives remain unchanged: Ukraine will not join NATO, and Moscow will not cede the territories it controls.

    The Media Mirage

    Trump’s approach resonates with his political base – the MAGA faithful who see him as a champion against elites. For them, the illusion is enough. But outside America, the cracks are visible. The American media, both left and right, has lambasted his foreign policy blunders. Analysts have called his maneuvers “the greatest foreign policy mistake” and “the undoing of decades of bipartisan effort.”

    The world is not fooled. India sees through the noise, continuing to expand trade with Russia. Putin indulges Trump’s theatrics, but on his own terms. Europe remains skeptical. Even America’s traditional allies worry that another Trump presidency would mean volatility rather than strategy.

    The Bottom Line

    Donald Trump is not playing a grand game of geopolitics. He is playing a grand game of media – one where perception outweighs policy, and short-term drama eclipses long-term stability.

    India and Russia, in their own ways, have adapted. India ignores the noise and quietly pursues its national interest. Russia humors Trump, using him when convenient, but remains anchored in its strategic objectives.

    The world must understand: Trump’s greatest victories are not on the battlefield of diplomacy but in the arena of headlines. For allies and adversaries alike, the challenge is the same – to distinguish between the spectacle of leverage and the reality of strategy.

  • When a Nominator Becomes the Obstacle: Trump’s Nobel Peace Prize Bid and the Munir Factor

    Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s quest for the Nobel Peace Prize has taken an unexpected turn. What once looked like a promising campaign, backed by multiple countries, is now facing a credibility crisis — and the reason lies with one of his own nominators.

    A Rare Wave of Support

    Trump’s nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize was endorsed by five countries: Pakistan, Israel, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Cambodia. Each cited his role in mediating conflicts or pushing for negotiations, particularly in the Armenia–Azerbaijan peace deal and in efforts surrounding the Russia–Ukraine war. Pakistan’s endorsement was particularly strong, with its Army Chief, General Asim Munir, personally crediting Trump with helping to de-escalate tensions between India and Pakistan.

    For Trump, the support seemed like a validation of his self-styled image as a global peacemaker. He often reminded audiences that his leadership had brought nuclear-armed rivals to the table and claimed credit for reducing hostilities across regions.

    The Nuclear Threat That Backfired

    But the same General Munir who once championed Trump has now become his greatest liability. Speaking in the United States, Munir issued an alarming statement: Pakistan, he warned, could “destroy half the world” with nuclear weapons if its survival were at stake.

    Such rhetoric is in direct contradiction to the values of the Nobel Peace Prize, which celebrates efforts to prevent war and build reconciliation. The Nobel Committee has reportedly taken the statement seriously. And Trump’s silence on Munir’s words has fueled speculation that he is unwilling to distance himself from the threat, lest he lose a key nominator’s backing.

    The Irony of the Obstacle

    This irony cannot be overlooked. The very figure who bolstered Trump’s claim for the Nobel Prize may now be the reason his candidacy collapses. In the eyes of the Nobel Committee, association with nuclear threats — even indirectly — risks disqualifying any candidate from consideration as a peacemaker.

    A Fragile Bid

    The Nobel decisions are expected in October. Even if Trump succeeds in advancing peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, his bid is overshadowed by Munir’s outburst. For Trump, the dream of being recognized as a global peace icon faces an obstacle he could not have predicted: the words of the man who helped nominate him.

    In the end, the episode is a reminder of how reputations in international diplomacy are fragile. One misplaced statement — even by an ally — can undo years of carefully built narratives. For Trump, the path to the Nobel Prize is no longer about his efforts alone, but about whether the world believes his cause for peace is free of the shadows of nuclear threats.