Trump looks to run his second term more like a royal court than a presidential administration. Welcome to the court of the Orange King*.
As the Trump team has announced more and more picks for important roles in the incoming administration the media has been inundated with opinion articles condemning Trump’s choices. Appointing a climate sceptic as energy secretary and a conspiracy theorist to be director of national intelligence is a bad idea to be sure, but the specifics is less interesting than what it says about Trump two more generally. It seems more like Trump is assembling a court than staffing an administration.
Politics is as old as humanity, and breakthroughs in administration has transformed the pinnacle of power from a coterie of nobles and notables surrounding a king or queen to a hand picked team of administrators. Trump’s governing style is more akin to the personality driven politics of a court than the legal and institutional politics of parties and ministries. If you consider Trump’s actions in the context of a king rather than a president his behaviour makes more sense. I’ve seen several people comment that Trump in his first administration intentionally put people with different agendas and ideological outlooks in similar positions to create friction. He was also quick to fire those who displeased him and elevate those who proved loyal and adoring. Is that not how one would expect court politics to work?
Trump’s rejection of modernity and embrace of personality based politics makes some sense given his view of the American state as inherently corrupt. If the establishment is corrupt, and being a politically appointed government worker is the signum of the establishment, then does it not follow that shunning mainstream picks for those positions and going around the established norms and processes for appointments should make the administration’s personnel less likely to assimilate into the establishment? A MAGA-branch of anarchism if you will.
Obviously, in reality Trump’s antics will just result in less effective and efficient government. Processes are established for a reason, and there are good reasons to believe that minimising conflicts of interest and making sure that the person who heads up a government agency has at least a basic understanding of what the agency does and why. And in Trump two’s case there are some agencies where the intended head does not just lack the requisite knowledge but in some cases also reject the premise of the agency. Having an anti-vaxxer in charge of health policy is not just ineffective but actively counter-productive.
My guess is that Trump’s administration will be defined by politics. Not the electoral politics of demographics, turnout, and debates, or the horse-trading of crafting and implementing policy but the interpersonal, schoolyard style politics of a royal court.
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I've always been interested in politics, economics, and the interplay between. The blog is a place for me to explore different ideas and concepts relating to economics or politics, be that national or international. The goal for the blog is to make you think; to provide new perspectives.
Written by Karl Johansson
*If you have not listened to the King Crimson album In the Court of the Crimson King I wholeheartedly recommend it!
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