Is Trump simply 'bucking the trend' of unfulfilled election pledges from past presidents?

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00:00Well for more on Donald Trump because of course tomorrow marks one month of

00:04Donald Trump's presidency. It's been a month during which the torrent of

00:09decisions, announcements, comments, executive orders, pardons, it's deeply

00:15impacted life in the United States and it's provoked huge disruption around the

00:20world. In the US it seems that around maybe half the population is pleased to

00:25see a president doing what he said he would do and the other half is watching

00:31its worst nightmare unfold. Around the world though in Ukraine, in Russia, in the

00:36Middle East, Canada, Europe and elsewhere the Trump presidency has shaken

00:41everything. Russia is of course delighted and old allies of the US are appalled. So

00:48one month on we thought it would be a good time to take a look at where we are

00:52at that and what we're in for. And to do that I'm joined now on the line from

00:58Boston by James D Boyes who is a specialist on US politics based at

01:04University College London. Mr. Boyes thank you so much for joining us here on

01:08France 24. Welcome to the programme. Perhaps we could start by looking at

01:14foreign affairs and then I hope we'll have time to discuss his impact within

01:18the US and I want to look first of all at Trump-Russia and you know his very

01:24favourable attitude towards Vladimir Putin and you know the likelihood that

01:30he might negotiate a peace deal that rewards Russia. And apart from Ukraine

01:38and Europe and their obvious reactions to this, is this not going to be harmful

01:43to the US? You know Russia will feel emboldened on the world stage, the EU

01:48by itself without the US might not be able to curtail Russia. Is that good for

01:52the US in the long term to allow the flourishing of Russia? I get that you

01:56know the US feels the EU was freeloading, needed to pay more but beyond that is

02:02this a good idea for the US even? Well good morning Angela, it's good to be back.

02:07I think that what Donald Trump is clearly trying to do is to take the

02:12initiative here. He promised on the campaign trail that he would address the

02:17Ukraine situation immediately. Admittedly he did say that he would solve

02:20it, end it within 24 hours. As with all statements by Donald Trump there is

02:26obviously a degree of hyperbole there. But what I think he is attempting to do

02:30is to lance the boil here. The great question of course is how do you end a

02:35situation like this? I think Donald Trump's approach has been that you know

02:39for the last three years the United States and Russia have not spoken at all

02:44and that therefore this is a new opportunity, a new administration, a new

02:48team and a new beginning effectively. Now I appreciate and I'm certainly not

02:54sitting here advocating for the administration but that the the

02:59opportunity here is to basically strike while the iron's hot and to try to

03:04negotiate something in Riyadh which could then be taken

03:09forward. Understandably Ukraine feels aggrieved to be left out but very

03:14clearly I think this is also a situation which is going to be made at the highest

03:17possible levels. It was always going to I think end in at some sort of a

03:21negotiated settlement that left perhaps both sides disappointed. From what we're

03:25hearing I certainly concur with your synopsis that it does sound as though

03:30Russia appears to be getting the upper hand with little to be gained from

03:34Ukraine at this point. Okay so we must assume that Trump thinks that's not

03:39going to harm America. How much do you think he listens to foreign affairs

03:45advisors? You know will Rubio be able to continue working with him because he

03:48went through staff really quickly in that first term and one of the reasons I

03:52ask this is because he does not seem well informed apart from Zelensky just

03:58talking about a disinformation bubble. When UK Prime Minister Theresa May was

04:04in power it apparently emerged that he didn't know even that Britain was a

04:08nuclear power. He has an astonishing lack of basic information and these things

04:13really matter. Does he listen to people around him? I think Donald Trump is

04:19someone who has a small number of well-held beliefs. In some ways not

04:25dissimilar to what people used to say about Ronald Reagan many years ago. I

04:30think we have to be careful. He clearly is an intelligent individual. He

04:35wouldn't have achieved everything he had in life without being so. The extent to

04:39which he is well briefed by his advisors presumably is occurring on a regular

04:44basis but the extent to which he acts I think upon his own impulses has always

04:50been a very Trumpian approach. I think it's important to recognize also that

04:54what people put down as Donald Trump's madness is more likely a continuation of

04:59what I refer to as his excuse of extreme coercive diplomacy. The idea that if you

05:05want someone to do something you don't ask for say 30% you ask for 70% in the

05:10hope that you get that down to 30%. The US Treasury Secretary Scott Besson who

05:16was over in Ukraine recently was speaking on American television last

05:20night and addressing the terms which are likely to be put forward to Russia and

05:25Ukraine and seemed to suggest that indeed it was an interesting deal. I

05:31think one of the challenges is that Donald Trump is not a normal politician.

05:34He comes at this as he used to as a businessman in New York and there is as

05:39always at the heart of everything the art of the deal. What can be struck and

05:43very clearly I think Donald Trump believes that there is an opportunity to

05:46wage peace in Ukraine albeit on terms which might seem somewhat alien to many

05:53observers and it will be fascinating to see what does transpire in the coming

05:58days and weeks as we move forward ahead of Donald Trump's address to Congress on

06:03the 4th of March. Okay if we if we talked about the the US now how do you how

06:10important do you think all these culture wars issues are to this US

06:14administration? Well when you say culture wars it's important to recognize I think

06:20that Donald Trump was very candid on his campaign trail going into this

06:24election. I don't think anybody can be surprised by what Donald Trump is saying

06:29he's going to do perhaps surprised at the speed by which he is acting but of

06:34course what he is putting into effect through executive orders is very much

06:39what he campaigned upon and won a mandate from the American people. However

06:43you address this whatever you believe about Donald Trump the Democratic ticket

06:49was roundly routed in November however you cut the the results effectively.

06:56Donald Trump has a finite time in office he cannot of course seek a re-election

07:02the midterm elections are coming up next November and very clearly the

07:08administration is trying to put a raft of issues in effect through the use of

07:13executive orders to to make sure they are in place and enacted in the first

07:18days and weeks of his presidency to deliver upon his campaign pledges and

07:22again whether one agrees with Donald Trump or disagrees and as you said in

07:26your introduction there is a very discernible split in this country. For

07:30many years people have lamented the fact that politicians have not delivered upon

07:34their election pledges and I guess Donald Trump would say well I'm bucking

07:38that trend and I'm doing what the American people sent me here to do.

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