Trump leads ‘country like a business’
I believe that few really understood what Donald Trump meant when he promised to “run the country like a business.” Many struggle to understand Trump. Most fail to see that Trump represents a paradigm shift from governing based upon politics and ideology, to governing based upon sound business practices.
He campaigned that America should be run like a business and, like most successful businesses, he has a mission and vision statement and core values. Although Trump has never articulated these elements in a business plan format, it is not difficult to extrapolate his mission, vision and core values from the presidential campaign.
Obviously, his mission statement is “Make America great again.” His vision is to make America economically competitive and prosperous, safe and secure, well-defended and, most importantly, governed by a responsible and trustworthy fiduciary. This vision is, in effect, the goal of President Trump’s business plan. His core values include the Constitution, Bill of Rights, separation of powers, law and order and the fiduciary duty.
If one can extrapolate his mission, vision and core values from the presidential campaign, Trump’s adherence to these values can be gauged from his first 100 days in office. The appointment of Neal Gorsuch to the Supreme Court is consistent with his constitutional core value. Regulatory reform, renegotiating NAFTA, and requiring members of NATO to pay their “fair share” are all examples of a fiduciary duty to stockholders. In this case, the stockholders are us. Enforcing immigration laws, supporting law enforcement, empowering the military and proactively negotiating with the Chinese are all examples of business transactions advancing the goals of his business plan for America.
For Trump, governing isn’t political or ideological. It is, instead, a series of business transactions predicated upon a shared mission, vision and core values.
David J. Carlini
Bradenton
This story was originally published April 24, 2017 at 2:16 PM with the headline "Trump leads ‘country like a business’."