The new Trump presidency will bring about an era of national liberalism that will lead to a new age of managed trade, security concerns and strategic partnerships, said Sten Rynning, director of the Danish Institute for Advanced Study at the University of Southern Denmark.
“I don't think that 'Team Trump' will undo liberalism. I think we're back to very heavy doses of (a form of) liberalism (that is) more nationalist, it's more populist,” he said during a keynote speech on the second day of the P&I WorldPensionSummit 2024 in The Hague, Nov. 5-7.
At its heart, the U.S. is liberal, he said. “This time around, Trump is not tainted by doubts about Russia's interference in the election… If he gives up on Ukraine right away, it will make him look weak, and the Republicans are massively worried about China, so I don't think we'll see a sellout of liberal principles,” he said.
He does anticipate that the world will move into an era of strategic competition, where there will be less open and more managed trade and the markets will be more volatile as politicians react to what they see as national security threats, he said.
During Trump’s previous presidency, the COVID-19 pandemic helped him to focus his message on China very clearly, Rynning said in response to an audience question.
“He always had and was always very critical of China, and COVID became the linchpin for doing that. He will find something similar again, and he will be challenged because he doesn't structure government. He doesn't run government. He runs himself,” he said.
“So hopefully he will be able to put together a team that can navigate all the turbulence that he is capable of producing. The fourth national security advisor to Trump said every morning when he came into her office, he said, ‘ You got to devise the policies that will fit the tweets that came out overnight’. And I don't expect that will go away,” Rynning said.
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