One of Donald Trump’s earliest supporters says man about to become the nation’s forty-fifth president is tailor made for this moment in American history, but says Trump will approach the job differently than his predecessors.
Theodore Roosevelt Malloch is a former Yale University professor and senior fellow at Oxford University. He is author of the brand new book, “Hired: An Insider’s Look at the Trump Victory.”
Malloch, who is a descendant of President Theodore Roosevelt, was on board with the Trump campaign from it’s earliest days. He says Trump is entering this job with the right motivations.
“What makes him tick, frankly, is his love of country. Donald Trump is a patriot,” said Malloch, suggesting Trump could easily have skipped the campaign and focused on business and golf.
“When he says he wants to make America great again, and take it into this 21st century, I said very early on it’s much like Theodore Roosevelt at the beginning of the 20th century and American nationalism. I think Trump actually sees the potential of America, does not believe she is in decline, does not believe she’s on her last legs, but believes American greatness can prevail,” said Malloch.
He expects Trump to get a lot done in the early days of this administration, but one area is of top concern.
“I think in the economy in particular, you’ll see a very active president in these first 100 days,” said Malloch.
And Malloch says that record will be judged by voters in less than two years.
“I think he defines success as bringing back American economic growth,” said Malloch. “He will be judged by the American public and he is willing to be judged by how he restores the American dream, but particularly American economic growth.”
Malloch also offers a very different view of Trump’s personal side than the public has come to see. He says Trump is not a bully and a narcissist, although he does see why many have reached that impression over the past couple of years.
“Certainly those are characteristics that have been lodged against him and in some ways he has brought some of those upon himself with his demeanor during the campaign, which was over the top,” said Malloch.
But he says the Trump he’s dealt with is very different.
“He’s actually a very thoughtful and very reflective , excellent listening person who takes advice and is able to analyze a situation. Donald Trump is the kind of chess player who is playing two or three moves ahead of you on the chess board. He’s that strategic,” said Malloch.
As a result, Malloch says we can expect Trump to approach the presidency differently than anyone else who has held the office.
“Don’t forget that Donald Trump is an outsider. He is a maverick and he’s going to do things his way, whether that means using Twitter or going directly to the American public or that means carving out a new tag line to describe his policies. He’s going to be a unique American president,” said Malloch.
While Trump may not have the finely honed conservative vision of Ronald Reagan, Malloch sees important similarities.
“I do think that he has a good bit in common with Ronald Reagan in terms of his common sense mentality, his pragmatism and also the notion of transactional leadership,” said Malloch.
“If you read ‘The Art of the Deal,’ you can really come to understand how Donald Trump lives, thinks and will negotiate America’s place, both economically and in terms of its relations with foreign powers,” said Malloch.
When it comes to the foreign stage, Malloch expects some clear priorities from Trump.
“We all know about his attitudes toward Russia, which frankly is more in the direction of detente than it is towards a new Cold War. I think that his relationship with (British Prime Minister) Theresa May after Brexit and any other country that moves in the same direction will be interesting to watch. I would particularly invest in, and I believe he will, the U.S.-U.K special relationship as a signal,” said Malloch.
Malloch spent years rubbing shoulders with the world leaders who gather each year at events like World Economic Summit in Davos, Switzerland. He says Trump has little use for their ideology.
“Donald Trump will likely never find himself in that Davos global elite, moving towards one-world government, moving towards all the environmental nonsense and moving toward a statist regulatory apparatus that is the antithesis of much of what he campaigned on,” said Malloch.
