What Kind of Leader Is Donald Trump? a Political Philosophy Essay

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Seeming to proclaim the General Will, Trump would have to be the Legislator in Rousseau’s order. However, Trump can hardly be called a man of ‘superior intelligence who saw all the passions of men and who had not experienced any of them’ (Cahn, 2011, p. 380). If so, he would not switch his views around without the people collectively having done so (for then he would have erred earlier, or err now in distinguishing the General Will).

When considering these turnarounds and switches between Locke and Rousseau from a Machiavellian perspective, however, they do make sense. In fact, Trump seems to follow The Prince’s advice closely. Trying to come into power by pleasing the common people, rather than the nobility (the GOP establishment), he has adopted the strategy of saying whatever resonates best with the group of people he is currently trying to win over. This means Lockean reasoning in order to make government smaller and cheaper as not to have to rob the people, and to make them feel they are not oppressed by the government. Locke’s legacy is replaced with Rousseau’s whenever cautious arguments are not enough, and the people must be impressed, unified, and rallied as his support force. Prince Donald never lacks legitimate reasons to break with earlier statements and promises. Indeed, his herd of supporters seems hardly to notice and will continue to follow him as long as he is able to maintain an air of fame and glory; for instance through impetuous plans for a wall, with which he defies fortune as nature and control over the Mexican finances. Indeed, the strategy of keeping supporters as well as opponents in awe through such plans quickly following each other, seems to work well in preventing anyone from calmly working against him. Scandals are quickly forgotten in favour of new ones, and his media coverage is unmatched.

It would be interesting to see, however, how Trump would fare as a Prince rather than a candidate-Prince. For while he is doing well during campaigns, impressing and awing people through bold actions, Trump is yet to show he possesses the talents Machiavelli asserts to be necessary in power, those of subtly getting things done while keeping up the appearance of integrity, kindness, and piousness.