Trump's plans for Romania, revealed by the Romanian who knows him best. “For us, the signs are good”

Donald Trump managed, at the beginning of the second term at the White House, to surprise everyone, including the closest allies. The American political scientist Greg Scărlătoiu, a former Trump Administration counselor, explains, in an analysis for “Adevărul”, what are the plans and priorities of the Washington leader and why Romania has optimism for relations with it.

Donald Trump wants the US and Romania to remain allied. Photo: video capture

Donald Trump started on January 20, this year, the second term at the White House, and in less than five months he managed to cause a lot of controversy. During this time, the most powerful man in the world has made a series of decisions, some inspired, some rather absurd, but constantly was in the beating of the spotlight.

Unlike his predecessor, Joe Biden, Donald Trump prefers a policy of strategic ambiguity in the great files of America. The purpose is, in such cases, the misleading of the rivals, but such a policy has a double edge. This is how he managed to annoy his allies that he often treated apparently worse than he behaved with unfriendly states. Perhaps the best example was his troubled relationship with the leaders of Ukraine and Russia, when he once gave the impression that he is more friendly with Vladimir Putin than with Volodimir Zelenski. But his most controversial decisions were those related to imposing taxes for Allied countries and the way he was related to Canada or Greenland.

Trump's true plans with Romania

The American political scientist Greg Scărlătoiu, a former Trump Administration counselor, analyzes, for “Adevărul”, the first months of the Trump administration and explains the true plans of the Washington leader, but also to what American policy we should expect in the next period.

“Since the beginning of the second term, President Trump has had some negative comments to many allies, including even the Canadian neighbors or the United Kingdom. But, in terms of Romania, President Trump did not send any negative message. The only ones who referred to Romania at Romania were the vice-president of Romania. There were no problems at all ”, says Greg Scărlătoiu.

The American political scientist also referred to the relationship between Donald Trump and Nicușor Dan. The signal transmitted by Trump to Romania and Nicușor Dan is a reliable one. Moreover, says Greg Scărlătoiu, Trump paid more attention to Nicușor Dan than the new president of South Korea, given that South Koreans have always been among the closest allies in the US. The signals that come from Trump are positive and come to dismiss the rumors and without substance statements of some political analysts or even Romanian politicians who have previously spoken about a break between the US and Romania.

“The fact that Trump spoke to President Nicuşor Dan immediately after the elections is very important, shows that the Trump administration continues to trust Romania. To give you another example, the new President of South Korea, Lee Jae Myung, was elected on June 3. President Trump did not notice in the first days. not immediately after the election, as used to”, Says Scărlătoiu.

His conclusion is that the latest Washington signals not only have the gift to reassure Romania, but they are good and show that Americans still consider us allies.

“Another very good signal, President Trump has already nominated an ambassador candidate in Romania, on Darryl Nirenberg. So I say that the signs are good, they clearly indicate the confidence of America with Romania and the Trump's confidence in the Alliance with Romania.“Adds the expert.

Where it performs and where no America is working on Trump

At the macro level, regarding Donald Trump's policies, Greg Scărlătoiu believes that some successes have been checked, but there are areas where things do not go well.

“An example of policies that give results are those related to illegal immigration and border security. Indeed, the Trump administration managed to secure the border and it was important to do so, especially since recently new evidence of collaboration between China and Cartes from the south of the border, the Mexican Cartes, and the Chinese Cartes, Mexican cards distribute it in the US. For citizens from 20 states with potential for terrorist threat ”, says Scărlătoiu.

Greg Scărlătoiu. Photo: personal archive

On the other hand, prices have generally decreased, and the US economy seems to work well.

“The economy, from the point of view of consumption, looks good, the prices have dropped. The price of the fuel has dropped, the price has dropped for some products and I think about eggs, because the American eats many eggs“Adds the expert.

However, there are some question marks and policies that seem to go in the wrong direction.

“The tariff policy is a great question mark. Of course, you need to rebuild some industrial sectors of great security, and this is a reason. But at the same time, it is hard to believe that America will return to a world where everything is produced here, from textiles to electronic equipment. To sanction Apple because they have too much production capacity in China. says Scărlătoiu.

Asia-Pacific and the Mijociu East, Trump's priorities

As for foreign policy, Donald Trump has checked a few successes, but there are also directions in which he did not perform at all.

“In the Middle East, the situation continues to be very complicated, and, of course, even in the Korea Peninsula has not moved anything. South, very complicated. After a few days”, Points out the Romanian.

The Trump administration has a rather complicated relationship with the countries of the European Union, but also with Ukraine. At the same time, Trump's discussions with Putin raised question marks and dissatisfied some of the American political analysts, although others greeted this apparent closeness.

“In my opinion, this is rather about an effort that Trump makes to appear as neutral as possible in negotiations with Russia and Ukraine, in the hope that he will be able to put an end to the war. But for now, the material support for continuous Ukraine and this is very important. Second, after that famous meeting, and in the Oval office. Trump is fundamentally a pacifist, you can see a pacifier and, thank you to the Lord, he has a lot of work and many issues to solve.adds the expert.

Regarding the priorities, the Trump administration continued the reorientation policy of the United States to Indo-Pacific, a politics from the first term of Barack Obama. The next priority on Donald Trump's list would of course be the Middle East, and Israel remains the main US ally.

“Of course, Israel continues to be very important. And this is all the more so as Israel is the only democratic state in the Middle East with America. So without discussion, America will not abandon Israel. On the other hand, obviously, the Indo-Pacific area, of course, continues to grow in importance. It is already of huge economic importance, plus that this is the huge competition with China. And the competition with China is very important for the Trump administration. One more serious reason, I say, that America does not abandon allies in the Asia-Pacific area, South Korea and Japan ”adds Greg Scărlătoiu.

Trump vs. EU, a complicated relationship

The Romanian political scientist is convinced that Donald Trump will not abandon Europe and that he will continue to support his allies on this continent.

“Europe continued to be important. There is, I say, this perception in the US that Europeans do not put much shoulder when it comes to supporting Ukraine and relies too much on America. So Trump does not abandon Europe, but at the same time, he probably believes that Europe should contribute more to the support of Ukraine. Plus, it would like Europe to contribute much more to Ukraine war efforts and any negotiations. I have now seen that the Americans have sent a similar message to the states in the Asia area. And he has expectations from Europeans, he wants the special effort to support the Alliance to be divided, he has been tired of America to contribute by 80% of the budget. That is, it wants Europeans to contribute more to their own safety, and for this reason they ask them to supplement their defense expenses”, Says Greg Scărlătoiu.

Who is Greg Scărlătoiu

The American political scientist Greg Scărlătoiu is the CEO of the North Korean (HRNK) human rights committee, DC was the Trump Administration Councilor, on the first mandate, on issues related to North Korea. He is a professor at the University of International Hankuk Studies in Seoul, as well as instructor and coordinator of the Korean Peninsula and Japan at the US State Department's External Services Institute (FSI). Scărlătoiu is vice -president of the International Council for Korean Studies (iks). Before HRNK, he worked at the Korean Economic Institute (Kei) in Washington, DC has many years of experience in international development, on projects funded by the United States Agency for International Development, World Bank and Asian Development Bank.