Trump eroded his most powerful political strategy — and his enemies know it

During his second presidency, Donald Trump has maintained a firm grip on not only the Republican Party, but also, on business leaders who are reluctant to public criticize him. Many GOP leaders are afraid to cross Trump. But according to conservative Washington Post columnist Max Boot, Trump's "normally deft marketing touch has deserted him during his second term" — and his "strategy" of bullying others is now "backfiring badly."

"Whatever else you may say about him," the Never Trump conservative writes in the Post, "President Donald Trump is a consummate salesman. As former House speaker Newt Gingrich once noted to me, the former real estate tycoon did a brilliant job with his campaign slogan: It wasn't 'Trump for President'; it was 'Make America Great Again.' Despite his outsize ego, he kept the focus on the country, not on his own ambition."

But 19 months into his second presidency, Boot emphasizes, Trump is floundering both in the U.S. and abroad.

"In the CNN Poll of Polls, 36 percent approved of his job performance, while 63 percent disapproved," the conservative columnist observes. "That's far below the historical average for presidents. He is even more unpopular abroad — and international disapproval of the president has translated into disapproval of the country he leads. A Pew Research Center poll of 36 countries, conducted earlier this summer, found that 76 percent of respondents had 'no confidence' in Trump and 57 percent had an unfavorable opinion of the United States. In most of the countries Pew surveyed, people had a more positive impression of China than of the U.S."

Boot continues, "There are many factors that explain the collapse of Trump's support — he has, after all, pursued unnecessary and unsuccessful policies, ranging from trade wars to his actual war with Iran, that have exacerbated voters' concerns about 'affordability.' What makes it all worse is that Trump makes almost no attempt to win over either domestic or foreign audiences to his views. Instead of cajoling or convincing, he tries to coerce and compel others to do what he wants."

Bullying longtime U.S. allies, according to Boot, is making Trump weaker politically — not stronger.

"Earlier this year," Boot explains, "he refused to rule out military action to annex Greenland — a threat that European countries took seriously enough to dispatch their forces to defend Danish sovereignty. Last month, Trump threatened to impose tariffs on Canada to punish it for wildfires that were blowing smoke into the U.S. One day later, the Trump administration imposed 50 percent tariffs on many Canadian goods, claiming that they were unrelated to the wildfires. Then last week, Trump threatened to 'bomb the s–– out of Oman if it gets 'in the way' of his administration's talks with Iran."

Boot continues, "I can't remember any previous president making such a blunt public threat against an ally, but for Trump, it's become routine ... Trump's conduct abroad is mirrored at home, where he has never made any effort to win support beyond his MAGA base. Instead of trying to win over skeptics and critics, he targets them for retribution, whether by cutting funds to 'woke' universities, launching prosecutions of political opponents or dispatching immigration agents and National Guard troops to Democratic cities."

But Trump's "coercive tactics," according to Boot, are "failing miserably."

"Judges have blocked many of his executive edicts and dismissed several of his politically motivated prosecutions," Boot writes. "Trump's opponents aren't intimidated; they're energize ... Trump's ability to intimidate has dramatically eroded because the whole world has seen how empty many of his threats are ... Instead of trying to bludgeon the entire world into submission, maybe he should try persuasion instead."