Trump — The Flaws of the Presidential System

Trump — The Flaws of the Presidential System

In the United States, a Presidential system of government is followed, meaning Presidential elections are held once every four years. A U.S. citizen cannot serve as President more than twice in their lifetime.

Since this is President Trump’s second term and he knows well that he cannot hold office again, he has been exercising his power in a lowly, foolish, aggressive, or even clownish manner.

Trump has been imposing extremely heavy tariffs on all countries worldwide. The U.S. Supreme Court expressed its strong condemnation of this two days ago. Following this, Trump reduced the import tax on global nations to 10%, but by that same evening, he abruptly changed his decision and increased it to 15%.

Until now, those who served as Presidents of the world’s greatest superpower, the USA, conducted their actions with great diplomacy, and their public deeds were always worthy of respect.

However, the current President Trump is entirely unsuited to these standards and has become a massive headache for all nations. Furthermore, his actions have become a major problem even for American businessmen.

The Indian Context

Indian Prime Minister Modi and External Affairs Minister Jaishankar handled the relationship and tariffs with the U.S. very diplomatically. Instead of buying crude oil from the U.S., they secured an agreement with Russia at a lower price.

In retaliation, Trump increased the import duty on Indian goods by up to 150%. India immediately entered talks with Trump and reduced the tax on certain goods imported from America; subsequently, Trump lowered the tax on Indian goods to 25%.

World leaders view Trump’s actions—such as deporting the Venezuelan President and telling Ukrainian President Zelenskyy to "get out" to his face during negotiations—as incredibly foolish and aggressive.

Comparison of Systems

In India, there are occasional discussions about adopting a Presidential system similar to that of the U.S. However, after witnessing Trump’s behavior during his second term, it feels as though the Indian Parliamentary system is far better.

In a democratic country like India, the law allows a person to be elected as Chief Minister, Prime Minister, or President as many times as they are chosen during their lifetime. Because of this, Indian leaders—driven by the fear (and desire) of needing to be re-elected—would never engage in such foolish actions.

If the U.S. Presidential system also allowed a person to become President any number of times, Trump might not have engaged in these foolish acts that the whole world despises. This practice should be introduced in the American Presidential elections.