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Shkruar nga Abigail Hauslohner & Alec Russell
Instead of using the traditional policymaking process, foreign governments are engaging with a small number of envoys who appear to have influence with President Donald Trump...
Brian Mast, the Republican congressman whose district borders Donald Trump's unofficial second residence in South Florida, has a large wooden conference table in his Washington office that he keeps stocked with small bottles of water for visitors. Guests arrive daily from embassies around Washington and capitals around the world. The day before, there had been representatives from Nigeria, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Taiwan and two other countries he can't remember.
But they all come prepared to show America what they have to offer, says Mast, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
If transactionalism is one of the defining themes of Trump's second term foreign policy, asking not what Washington can do for a foreign country, but what foreign countries can do for Washington, the other key characteristic is the role of the envoy.
“Personality politics ” has replaced the processes and institutions that have underpinned US foreign policymaking for decades. In place of the State Department, it is real estate developer Steve Witkoff, the president’s longtime friend and business partner turned special envoy for “ peace negotiations ,” who shuttles between Moscow, Riyadh, Jerusalem and beyond in the service of deals.
At his side is Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, a venture capitalist who does not hold an official government title but who, amidst his business dealings with Gulf monarchies, has found time to play a leading role in Middle East and Ukraine peace talks on behalf of the US.
Tom Barrack, Trump’s confidant and early campaign donor, serves as ambassador to Turkey and, more specifically, as an informal broker for peace in Syria and Lebanon. Massad Boulos, the Lebanese-American father-in-law of Trump’s daughter Tiffany, has long built a business empire in West Africa. As expected, he also serves as Trump’s envoy to Africa.
The traditional channels of advice and oversight, as well as the “ hierarchy of political engagements” that once governed the field, are gone, says a former U.S. official who has served in several administrations, including this one. With them has gone thematic expertise and decades of hands-on diplomacy.
Every administration has had its emissaries, including individuals who wielded power seemingly disproportionate to their role or who partially ignored the structures. But even then, veteran public servants note, the agencies functioned.
Today, in an environment where, according to the American Foreign Service Association, “America’s diplomatic capacity is being destroyed from within ,” there is no one to keep the system in check.
By slashing State Department resources, sidelining many of its top staff and replacing them with a handful of business magnates and advisers to implement the U.S. agenda abroad, Trump has fundamentally changed the way foreign policy is conducted in Washington, career officials, foreign diplomats and lawmakers say.
For many traditional allies accustomed to classic channels of diplomacy, finding access to the administration has been a serious challenge. With South Korea, for example, negotiators were forced earlier this year to make repeated 30-hour round trips to Washington, sometimes twice a week, to present their case directly to Trump.
Everything is conditional on Trump. Nothing is given unless he " puts his skin on the line ."
Moreover, the circle of people who have direct access and the confidence to speak on Trump's behalf is extremely small.
“ There are thousands of people claiming to be Trump whisperers these days ,” says one European official.
Argentine President Javier Tebas has built ties to Trump’s inner circle through annual pilgrimages to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), a sort of “MAGA Woodstock.” He even danced with Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, at the Buenos Aires edition of CPAC.
But their political alignment on the world was reinforced by personal connections, including those between Milei's deputy economy minister, José Luis Daza, and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Trump has denied any mix-up between his personal business interests and his role as leader of the free world, although his rhetoric often makes it unclear where America's interests end and personal ones begin.
In Switzerland, reports that business leaders donated a Rolex watch and a personally engraved gold bar to Trump's presidential library caused concern. However, the gesture appears to have reduced the threatened tariffs from 39% to 15%.
In this new era of American diplomacy, timely offers are essential. When several African presidents secured a joint audience with Trump at the White House in July, each took the opportunity to showcase his country's lucrative mineral reserves.
Pakistan has been particularly successful in this game. A group of Pakistani-origin businessmen based in the US and the Persian Gulf are exploiting ties to the Trump family and Witkoff to offer deals on critical minerals and cryptocurrencies.
The administration argues that Trump’s transactional nature benefits the American people. His critics counter, saying he has bypassed much of the institutional process to more easily combine his business interests with foreign policy. Even some of Washington’s opponents cannot help but admire what they see as the “ court culture ” of Trump’s Washington.
While many European allies find this servility humiliating, most have bowed down, accepting it as a critical strategy in an unconventional era.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte surprised many in June when, at a time when Europe was eager to keep Trump engaged in defending Ukraine, he called him “ father ” during a joint press conference.
Those who have offered too little or have been reluctant to give praise have faced unintended consequences. Brazilian authorities’ refusal to drop federal coup charges against former President Jair Bolsonaro prompted Trump to impose 50% tariffs. Brazil later negotiated the removal of some of them, in part by lobbying American businesses. Trump supporters are not apologetic; on the contrary, some are pleased with this tough approach to long-standing partners.
Therefore, foreign officials seeking a better relationship with the US may need to consider offers that were not even on the table before. / Adapted from "Pamphlet" from "Financial Times"
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