U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron (not in the picture) at the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States, on Feb. 24, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

In the two months since taking office, U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has been aggressively pursuing its foreign policy agenda under the belief that everything is subject to "deals," triggering wide backlash in international society.

The essence of Trump's foreign policy is "purely transactional," said an article on the U.S. website The National Interest.

"All I know, is... deals"

"My whole life is deals. That's all I know, is deals," said Trump following his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron about a month ago.

When it comes to the means to facilitate these deals, as Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, put it, "We could do that with carrots, and we can do that with sticks."

On the issue of the Ukraine crisis, to facilitate negotiations between the parties, the Trump administration threatened that Russia would face U.S. sanctions if it refused to participate in talks, and that Ukraine would lose U.S. aid if it declined to negotiate.

The United States has also coveted Ukraine's resources, initially demanding rare earth elements, followed by oil, natural gas and other mineral resources.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky strongly opposed these demands at first. His fiery clash with Trump at the White House on Feb. 28 shocked the world, prompting the United States to suspend military aid to Ukraine and cut off intelligence-sharing.

When they spoke by phone on Wednesday, Trump even suggested to Zelensky that the United States could help run, and possibly own, Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, according to a statement by the U.S. presidential administration.

On the Palestinian question, Trump demanded that Hamas release detained Israeli hostages, threatening that "or it is OVER for you" on March 5 in a post on Truth Social.

Trump also proposed to "clean out" Gaza in late January and used the suspension of aid as leverage to pressure Egypt and Jordan to accept Palestinians.

To address the issues of illegal immigration and fentanyl within the United States, the Trump administration wielded the "tariff stick" against Mexico and Canada. According to the Trump administration's logic, these two major problems were caused by Canada and Mexico, and if they are not resolved, tariffs will be imposed.

Trump also set his sights on Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark.

He said that the United States would take control of Greenland "one way or the other," refusing to rule out economic or military coercion. Trump said he would consider imposing tariffs on Denmark "at a very high level" if it resisted his offer to acquire the territory.

Referring to Trump's book where he talks about his experiences as a hotel developer, Sina Toossi, a fellow at the U.S. think tank Center for International Policy, told AFP: "He approaches diplomacy the way he approached real estate in 'The Art of the Deal:' -- escalate tensions, maximize threats, push the situation to the brink of disaster and then, at the last minute, strike a deal."

"Transactional foreign policy" reaches impasse

"My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier," Trump declared in his inaugural address on Jan. 20. But how effective is his "transactional foreign policy?"

After Trump's phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively, U.S. media believe that Russia has in effect rejected the U.S.-proposed 30-day ceasefire plan for Russia and Ukraine.

The Washington Post reported that the call between the U.S. and Russian leaders highlighted differences more than agreement.

Meanwhile, Ukraine is also dissatisfied with the proposal to halt attacks on each other's energy infrastructure within 30 days, hoping to extend the ceasefire to include other civilian infrastructure.

Zelensky said that Ukraine has no intention of transferring the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which the Trump administration is interested in.

As with Ukraine, Trump has pledged to bring "peace" to the Middle East, but his failure to facilitate "deals" through coercion and pressure has led to the rekindling of the flames of war in Gaza and Yemen.

After "full coordination with the United States," the Israeli military resumed large-scale airstrikes on the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, signaling the collapse of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

Additionally, the U.S. military began large-scale military operations against Yemen's Houthi group on March 15. In retaliation, the Houthis claimed to have attacked U.S. aircraft carriers multiple times.

After the Trump administration launched its "tariff war," many countries implemented countermeasures. On March 12, the Canadian government announced a 25-percent retaliatory tariff on 29.8 billion Canadian dollars' (20.7 billion U.S. dollars') worth of U.S. goods.

On the same day, the European Commission declared that the European Union (EU) would impose retaliatory tariffs on 26 billion euros' (28.3 billion U.S. dollars') worth of U.S. goods starting in April, targeting items such as beef, poultry, whiskey and motorcycles.

Trump's tariffs "are an act of self-harm," The Economist said in a recent article.

Trump's remarks about Greenland have also increased anti-American sentiment on the island. To protest Trump's remarks about acquiring the territory, an anti-American rally was held on March 15 in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, with thousands of demonstrators marching to the U.S. Consulate there.

Danish and EU officials also voiced their support for Greenland. "I believe that Greenland will remain part of the Danish Commonwealth for quite some time," Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said recently.

"To all the people of Greenland and of Denmark as a whole, I want to be very clear that Europe will always stand for sovereignty and territorial integrity," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday.

The Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun commented Thursday: "Another major offensive has begun in the Middle East, and Russia declined to endorse a full ceasefire in Ukraine. U.S. President Donald Trump's diplomacy based on deals has apparently stalled."

A more dangerous world

Analysts believe that the root cause of the impasse in "transactional foreign policy" lies in Trump's sole focus on U.S. interests. He disregards the demands and needs of others, especially those of conflicting parties, and makes no effort to address the underlying issues.

"For Trump, foreign policy isn't about carefully negotiated peace deals. It's about performance, leverage and crafting a narrative that sells," Toossi said.

Trump's ability to create bargaining chips out of thin air and force concessions through coercion and inducement rely on the United States' military and economic strength, analysts said.

The essence of his "transactional foreign policy" is nothing more than coercion diplomacy rooted in power, serving the narrow self-interests of the United States. Rather than solving problems at their root, it ignores the concerns of relevant parties and pressures them to accept U.S. terms.

"Team Trump claims that its dealmaking will bring peace and that, after 80 years of being taken for a ride, America will turn its superpower status into profit," said The Economist in an article.

"Instead it will make the world more dangerous, and America weaker and poorer," it added. 

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