Ze Lun Sifang] The business principles behind Trump's military aid policy

 

In the Trump era, politics isn't about a day being too long, but an hour. His policies are constantly changing. From the stalemate of the Ukrainian-US mining agreement to the high-profile White House announcement by TSMC executives of a $100 billion chip factory investment, which Trump even repeated in Congress, Li Ka-shing sold several ports in Panama and Europe to American companies for good prices. Both he and Trump achieved their desired outcomes. This week's events reveal that Trump's policies actually have a clear price tag. If Zelensky had applied business principles to understanding Trump's policies, he wouldn't have been so frustrated.

The difference between businesspeople and politicians is that businesspeople prioritize results—or, as Hong Kong slang puts it, "running the numbers." Businesspeople are constantly driven by numbers, whereas politicians only need to curry favor with voters a year or two before an election. Trump's professional instinct is to project the impression of executive competence. Therefore, the most important aspect of dealing with him is ensuring he can deliver results to the public. For populist supporters, creating business jobs and having large corporations invest heavily in creating large numbers of jobs are paramount. TSMC is the largest foreign investment Trump has successfully attracted since taking office. While this investment may take time to execute, as building a production line involves numerous local government bureaucratic procedures, it will be enough for him to talk about it extensively in a joint speech to the House and Senate. And when it comes time to allocate military funds to defend Taiwan, it will be much easier to point out to the public that the US military is fighting for the Americans supported by over $100 billion in investment.