Donald Trump And The Geopolitical "Deal"

Donald Trump And The Geopolitical "Deal"
President Donald Trump, January 20, 2025

In 1987, Donald Trump published his magnum opus, the treatise that he is likely to be remembered for most: “The Art Of The Deal.” It was mandatory reading for all of us in Sales. Over the years, it has been the one item I have most often received as a Christmas gift; I think I now have five copies.

This book outlined the keys to Trump’s success as a businessman and now as President of the United States. Trump outlines a unique strategy, one adopted by nearly all business negotiators, to achieve success. However, it is counterintuitive and runs so against the grain for most people that it is almost impossible for them to grasp.

The “Art” in Trump’s strategy to get the “Deal” begins with the realization that negotiations are a back-and-forth proposition consisting mainly of concessions on both sides. The process starts far from where the Deal is eventually consummated. Real Estate is the ultimate expression of this kind of strategy.

Let’s say you want to purchase a home. You’ve found just the right house and are now prepared to buy. You have financing and are prepared to make an offer. Your agent, especially if they’ve read Trump, may advise you to begin at a much lower level and gradually raise your price through a back-and-forth negotiation until the seller ultimately accepts.

Of course, conditions affect this strategy; a hot market or unique property may change your approach. However, in general, Trump is like the wise Realtor who recognizes that you can achieve a bargain in regular times by presenting the seller with a negotiated sale. (In purchasing the land for my current home, my Realtor used this method to carve about 40% off the price.)

We’ve just completed the first week of Trump 2.0, his second term in office, and what a remarkable week it has been. In just five days, Trump has embraced the entire country, first by inviting the CEOs of the nation’s leading companies to his Inauguration, people like Tim Cook of Apple, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Sundar Pichai of Microsoft, and, of course, Elan Musk of Tesla and DOGE.

Trump also visited the downtrodden victims of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina and the fire victims in California, all the while signing an estimated 200 Executive Orders that will set the Trump Administration apart from the previous one.

Perhaps even more significantly, we’ve seen Trump in two simultaneous “Deals” that will shape the future. The first was the ceasefire in Gaza. Apparently, the President’s envoy to Israel, Steve Witkoff, has been furiously working behind the scenes to halt the fighting. Everyone applauded when the “Deal,” the Cease Fire, was announced.

Trump and Witkoff had achieved what peace-loving people around the world had wished for. While even the President recognizes that this peace may not last, it is an important beginning to a process that will hopefully lead to a lasting settlement of the conflict.

However, this was all the result of the negotiation process, the “Art of Dealing,” if you will. Where Trump and Witkoff ended up was assuredly not where they began. No doubt, the American’s initial position was to leverage its support in weapons and finances provided to Israel. No doubt, Witkoff suggested that Israel might lose some or all of America’s support unless it agreed to the Deal.

We have to note here that had this part of the negotiations been released to the American press along the way, it would not have been well received.

Although we were not privy to the inner workings of the negotiations, this would be consistent with Trump’s overall approach. Begin much lower than you’re aiming for, describe the dire consequences of not accepting the Deal, and talk, talk, talk until the Deal is done.

While the Israeli Deal was mainly private, we see Trump’s other big negotiations in real-time. The Ukraine war is nearing its third year (the Russian SMO began on February 24, 2022). Reports are that for the past two years, the leader of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and the President of the US, Joe Biden, have not spoken. This puts the new President Trump in the position of beginning negotiations publicly, laying out his initial position through public statements and likely diplomatic communiques.

Utilizing his social media platform, Truth-Social, Trump opened negotiations to end the Ukraine war. Remember, he begins low, paints a vivid picture of how dire things will be without a deal, and then talks, talks, talks.

Trump’s opening:

“If we don’t make a “deal,” and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States…”

https://truthsocial.com/@DonaldJTrumpJr

Candidly, this isn’t the strongest opening hand for the President, but it’s about all we have to play. The Russians already have dozens of sanctions aimed against them by both the United States and the European Union. Russian sales to the US have been reduced to a mere trickle by the Biden Administration. What few remaining Russian sales to the US are centered in strategic resources, such as Uranium, which the US needs to continue. But you have to play the hand you’re dealt.

What is clear from Trump’s opening statements is that he wants to “Stop this ridiculous War!” A sentiment shared by the vast majority of Americans.

This week began the effort to unwind the most costly war, in terms of lives and resources, that Europe has seen in 80 years. It has been a tragedy of epic proportions. While we don’t know exactly how this war will end, the peace process has at last begun.

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Jamie Larson
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