Where Donald Trump will rank in the pantheon of American presidents remains unknown. But a strong argument can be made that he will be remembered for two defining traits: Proactivity and the use of Soft Power.
When Trump went to Riyadh in 2025, he did not lead with lectures about how the Arab world should govern itself or displays of military power. He presented the United States as a partner in prosperity, technology, investment, and modernization.
His proposition was simple: Align with America and gain access to American companies, technology, capital, markets, prestige, and political relationships. Shortly afterward, Saudi Arabia announced a $600 billion investment commitment in the United States, while Qatar announced an economic-exchange commitment of $1.2 trillion.
The contrast with Joe Biden could not have been sharper. During a 2019 Democratic presidential debate, after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Biden called Saudi Arabia a “pariah” nation and promised to make the kingdom “pay the price.” Whatever one thinks of that position, publicly alienating the leadership of one of the Middle East’s most strategically important countries is not an effective way to make friends, influence people, encourage investment in America or enhance military cooperation in that part of the world.
Trump approached the Gulf states as a businessman: What can we do together that makes both of us more prosperous and secure? He strengthened a regional alignment to contain Iran, using economic opportunity and diplomacy, i.e., soft power, backed by American military might.
Consider Venezuela. The United States is now positioned at the center of a potentially enormous redevelopment of Venezuela’s oil industry. The new agreement contemplates American-led investment, greatly increased Venezuelan production, and greater American access to Venezuelan crude. Trump has also said Venezuelan oil will help replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Yes, hard power was primary in brining Venezuela to this point. But the longer-term strategy is economic: use American investment, technology, and access to U.S. markets to tie Venezuela’s future more closely to the United States, strengthen its economy, and reduce China’s influence in our hemisphere.
I have never found a MAGA hat that fits. But I’m not blind to the fact that one of Trump’s great strengths is that he does not wait for problems to come to him. He goes after them before they worsen.
His impatience with the status quo may be his defining characteristic. He sees a problem, decides what should be done, and acts; and often before the political system has finished holding hearings about whether a problem exists.
Look at the results.
Trump treated illegal immigration as an immediate operational problem, not an issue that had to await another grand bargain in Congress. The results have been nothing short of astounding.
His energy policy is equally straightforward: America possesses enormous domestic energy resources; so he removed the unnecessary barriers to producing them. Add Venezuela’s vast proven oil reserves to the equation, and the global energy picture changes dramatically—with the United States in the driver’s seat.
Presidents of both parties have complained about government waste for decades. Trump created the Department of Government Efficiency to go looking for it. The ultimate amount saved can be debated; the willingness to attack the problem cannot.
For decades, American presidents have complained that European allies were not spending enough on their own defense. Trump turned complaining into sustained pressure. NATO defense spending has increased dramatically.
In the Middle East, he initiated the Abraham Accords, changing the political and economic equation by demonstrating that Arab nations and Israel could establish diplomatic and commercial relationships without first resolving the Palestinian question.
Across the Pacific, Trump confronted Chinese subsidies, unfair trade practices, supply-chain dependence, and strategic vulnerabilities. He addressed those problems without firing a shot.
Most recently, his agreement with Denmark regarding Greenland strengthens Arctic defense, limits Chinese and Russian influence in the growingly important part of the world while improving America’s access to rare-earth minerals – that are essential to electronics, missiles, aircraft, electric motors, and other advanced technologies. Reducing dependence on China in these matters is not merely good economics; it is a national-security imperative.
Disagree with Trump’s style, but don’t discount the fact that there is a fundamental difference between identifying problems, studying problems, managing problems, and solving problems.
Trump’s instinct is almost always to choose the latter.