Just another day in Trumpland

It was just another regular day in the second Trump administration.

An American hostage tasted freedom after a surprising breakthrough with Hamas.

An unprecedented ethics storm shook the presidency.

Officials claimed a huge “deal” with China on the trade, which looked very similar to a classic climb.

And President Donald Trump, to reduce drug prices for Americans, asked the long -term Republican economic dogma.

With all this that Trump went on a trip to Golf Arab states to drum investments for the United States, which told a story about his cross -transaction administration and a new place of global power.

Trump cuts Israel – and gets the last living US geisel from Gaza

Trump's juggling of critical global and domestic topics defines a presidency that constantly searches the horizon for “victories” that can encourage photo surgeries for a day. However, the show is often unpredictable, reflects its own volcanic temperament and disregard for constitutional complaints. And nobody can be sure what happens next in a Washington strudel that is part of his attraction for supporters.

But Trump's flexibility and willingness to drop everything for a deal can open up some options that could be closed for more conventional presidents.

On Monday, he signed a deal to avoid America's allied Israel and negotiated with Hamas, which had committed the attacks on October 7, 2023. The initiative, which was worked out with Egypt and Qatar, freed the last living American hostage in Gaza, Edan Alexander. The scenes of joy when Alexander welcomed his family would crack the toughest hearts – although thousands of Palestinians who were killed in Israeli bombings or who are faced with a humanitarian crisis in Gaza will never know similar reunits.

The move also put the pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who prioritizes the defeat of the ruthless Islamist group because of further hostages to do something similar. Trump makes it a habit of cutting Netanyahu. He shocked Israel by opening nuclear discussions with Iran. And while visiting Saudi, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates this week, he does not plan a stopover in the Jewish state.

Alexander's release was an urgently needed triumph for Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff, whose global peace huts have not yet caused much peace.

But it may be an isolated episode, since there are no signs of a realistic US plan to end a war that killed tens of thousands of civilians. Trump's earlier wild proposal was to clean the Gaza of the Palestinians so that he can build the “Riviera of the Middle East”. And Hamas has not agreed to stop the security check through the destroyed enclave – the only concession that prompted Israel to agree to end the war.

But Brett McGurk, a former civil servant of the top east for administrations of both parties, told Jake Tapper from CNN that the publication – apparently coordinated by Hamas in order to collapse with Trump's Middle East trip – a “big moment, a great day”. He added: “I give the administration of credit for (continued); they never give up.”

An ethics scandal from Jumbo proportions

When Alexander's return showed sympathy and diplomatic skill through the administration, a rumbling tower over Trump's plan to replace Jets as Air Force One emphasized its historical and brazen despite against fundamental ethical standards.

His defense of an idea for Qatar to give the Ministry of Defense a luxury of $ 400 million 747, which in his presidential library, after taking office, ignored the fears that he would be compromised by a foreign government. And it underlined the concerns that he used his second presidency to enrich his business -from the expanding portfolio of his company to luxury objects abroad to his lucrative Trump -Meme -coin $ Trump.

“I would never be one who rejects such an offer. I mean, I could be a stupid person and say:” No, we don't want a free, very expensive aircraft, “said Trump, blind to ethics that could cause the goal of the Qatar aircraft.

For the beginning, the flying palace could violate the constitutional clause of the constitution that prohibits a federal official to accept a gift or payment of a foreign government.

The press spokesman for the White House, Karoline Leavitt, insisted that every American knew Trump “only working with the interests of the American public”. This is quite a claim that Trump's first big trip abroad swings through his second term through a region in which his family starts new golf and hotel projects.

Most presidents could consult the founders in the federal papers for advice on this question.

But Trump turned to the late 'Slammin' Sam Snead, not a constitutional scientist, but a golfer who won seven large championships in the 1940s and 1950s.

“He was a great golfer. And he had a motto: if you give you a putt, say:” Thank you very much “, you take your ball and go to the next hole,” said Trump. “Many people are stupid. They say:” No, no, I insist on expressing it, and then they liked it, they miss it and their partner is getting angry with them, “said Trump reporters during a mini-Meltdown in the White House.

The moral of history: take what you can get, even if it does not correspond to the strictest interpretation of the rules.

In order to prepare the new aircraft to wear a president, Trump would have to spend millions of taxpayers for military upgrades and communication devices. And the intelligence service would have to take it off to the screws in order to rinse all insects planted by foreign secret services. There is no guarantee that there are two billion dollar budget exchanges and lengthy 747, which are supposed to serve as a presidential trip. But Trump's vanity in the socket after a replacement for the jumbos of the nineties is certainly in character.

It is also quite embarrassing that the most powerful superpower in the world is dependent on an ally to get a new plane – made by an American company.

But Trump's striving for a new Air Force that could be transformed into political liability.

Ex-house spokesman Kevin McCarthy advised him to drop it. “Let us finish Boeing – the new aircraft (are),” said McCarthy to Zain Asher and Biana Golodryga about CNN International. The former Republican representative of the California Republicans added: “I think America can afford his own aircraft and build her own air force.”

A deal that is fake on terrace sofas

Trump started boasting a breakthrough in the China trade talks in Switzerland on Monday.

“We have achieved total reset with China,” said the President. What actually happened was that both sides stepped down from the edge of a showdown that could have destroyed the global economy – which caused Trump.

In a further change from Trump Trump, there is a further period of 90 days to negotiate concessions, while the mutual tariffs are reduced by 115 percentage points.

The US sales representative Jamieson Greer said the agreement, which was largely negotiated in the residence of the Swiss ambassador in Geneva in Geneva, “under a large, beautiful tree on a series of terrace sofas” is a first step to compensate for the trade.

But the deal, which was screwed out under the administration of the increasingly influential finance minister Scott Bessent, also looks like a Trumpian retreat – just a week after the president has warned the parents that their children only had to bring in a few dolls as new restrictions in China. Beijing appears so far that no significant concessions have been made. And Trump has thrown back his 145% tasks for Chinese imports and the US consumers with a tariff of 30% still fed up with a tariff.

“It is very clear that it is President Trump who blinked,” former finance minister Larry Summers told Kasie Hunt from CNN. “Sometimes it is good to flash. If you make a mistake, it is usually best to correct it and withdraw, even if it is a bit embarrassing.”

Trump justifies his use of tariffs – a device that deepened the great depression almost a century ago – through the need to reverse the flood of globalization, in which many working Americans were stranded.

The same reasons was behind another political step on Monday, which showed how a populist president sometimes condemned the Republican Economic Orthodoxy. Trump signed an executive order that was the price of paying prescription drugs in line with the foreign prices in which governments with state health systems can negotiate costs.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary for Health and Human Services, pointed out the political leap the president tried.

“This is an extraordinary day. I grew up in the Democratic Party, and for 20 years every great democratic leader has made this promise to the American people,” said Kennedy. “It is one of these promises that politicians make their voters and know that they never have to do it.”

“We now have a president who is a man of his word who has the courage,” added Kennedy.

But Trump can be neglected. A similar effort in his first term was blocked in court. And the power of the pharmaceutical lobbyists in the congress means that a more permanent change in the law is unlikely.

Nevertheless, he keeps flirting with GOP policy Heresy. He even suggested that the rich should pay more for the financing of his ambitious tax -cut plan, from which he hopes that they will exclude exceptions to wages that are earned as tips.

Part of it is the positioning for political effect. After three months in which the president's approval ratings have fallen, a Trump voter could consider a hostage publication, an offer for reducing pharmaceutical prices and a trade agreement with China as a good job of a good day.

But maybe, the less about the Qatar Jumbo jet, the better.

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