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More than 30 years ago, a young Donald Trump appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and spoke with surprising clarity about how the United States was being short-changed on trade, on military alliances and in global governance. He argued that the US was subsidising the rest of the world, receiving very little in return. Back then, few took him seriously. But today, as President Trump wages a full-blown tariff war across the globe, that old clip has taken on a new life—proof that, if nothing else, Trump has been consistent. 

Critics have called the ongoing tariff war reckless, even comparing its potential economic disruptions to the COVID-19 pandemic. But underneath the noise lies a deliberate strategic intent: Trump is attempting a hard reset of America’s place in the global order. He’s not simply imposing tariffs—he’s demanding that the rest of the world renegotiate the unwritten rules that have governed global trade, diplomacy and defence for decades. It’s not chaos for chaos’s sake. It’s disruption with purpose. 

Trump’s message is clear: The United States will no longer be the world’s economic benefactor. Whether it is NATO allies not meeting their defence spending commitments, WTO rules that favour developing economies at America’s expense or multilateral trade agreements that eroded the US manufacturing base, Trump is calling time on the status quo. His demand is for reciprocity, not charity. And if that requires pressure through tariffs, then so be it. 

Yes, tariffs do raise consumer prices in the short term. Yes, they invite retaliation. But they also serve as blunt instruments of negotiation. Trump is using them to drag countries to the negotiating table—to reset terms that have long been lopsided. The world has grown comfortable with a US that opens its markets, protects sea lanes and provides aid, often unconditionally. That model is over. The tariff war is Trump’s way of making that unmistakably clear:

Agriculture is another underleveraged American strength. With its fertile land, cutting-edge Agri-tech and export capacity, the US can be a global food powerhouse. But trade retaliation has hurt farmers in the past—China’s tariff slap on US soybeans being a prime example. Trump’s approach this time is to link tariff diplomacy with targeted support for farmers and push aggressively for high-value Agri-exports. The goal is to make American agriculture not just productive, but profitable and strategically significant. 

Similarly, in defence manufacturing, the US has an opportunity to diversify its offering. Emerging economies in Asia, Africa, and Latin America want access to American defence technology—but not all can afford top-tier systems. By developing mid-range alternatives, enabling licensed production, and pricing smartly, the US can outcompete China and Russia while expanding its global influence. 

Geopolitically, Trump understands the world is no longer unipolar. It’s a fragmented global order where no one coalition can effectively gang up against the US. China has frosty relations with more than half the world, including India. Russia is isolated. Even America’s critics are divided among themselves. Trump is exploiting this disunity, knowing full well that retaliation against US tariffs will be uneven, cautious, and likely short-lived. India, for instance, has already made clear that it will not join a retaliatory bloc, preferring instead to work pragmatically with the US 

There’s also a broader global undercurrent at play. Trade as a percentage of global GDP rose from 26 per cent in 1970 to a peak of 63 per cent in 2022, but it dropped to 59 per cent in 2023 and continues to decline. Nations are looking inward, prioritising self-reliance, and reshaping supply chains. As this trend accelerates, the relevance of institutions like the WTO will erode. Bilateral deals will dominate. And with that comes the risk of countries moving away from the US dollar as the global reserve currency—something Washington is watching with laser focus and will aggressively counter. 

So, what is Trump doing now—and what can we expect next? 

  • Driving hard bargains
  • Doubling down on exports
  • Creating large-scale employment
  • Reshoring delivery, innovation and design
  • Securing energy independence
  • Resetting global alliances, demanding fairer contributions from NATO, the Middle East and Japan, and cultivating new alignments with countries like India. 

In essence, this is not an erratic economic crusade—it is a bold, if abrasive, realignment of America’s priorities. Trump is tearing up the old rulebook and forcing the world to write a new one, with the United States firmly holding the pen. His approach may be twisted in method, but it is undeniably strategic in intent. The Tariff War is the new Cold War. This time, it is USA vs China.