FORMER United States labor secretary Robert Reich, a high-profile and extremely vocal critic of President Donald Trump, in a recent commentary coined the phrase “Trump dump” to describe the behavior of the mentally peripatetic American leader when he does not get his way. Even though there is a tendency to regard Trump’s outbursts with mild amusement at best, the Philippines, as the oldest ally of the US in the Pacific, should tread very cautiously in dealing with the current American government, particularly in light of recent developments.
In his recent note posted on his Substack page, Reich described the pattern thus: “What does Trump do when [faced with] a humiliating defeat? He closes everything down. If that doesn’t work, he dumps it entirely and criticizes the hell out of whoever’s then in charge. Call it the Trump dump.”
There are a number of disturbing and very visible examples of this, beginning with the 2020 US presidential election. Trump refused to accept defeat and then tried to “close it all down” by inciting a mob to attack the US Capitol in an effort to prevent the formal certification of the election results.
Shortly after taking office, Trump took over the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, including renaming it to add his name to it. When performers scheduled to appear at the center began canceling in protest, Trump ordered it closed for “renovation.” Then after a federal court ordered the Trump administration to reopen the center and remove Trump’s name from it, Trump took to his Truth Social network to whine, “I have no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey into NEVER NEVER LAND,” adding, “The Kennedy Center will soon be closed, probably never to open again,” because “[it] will collapse, both structurally and financially.”
Another even sillier example occurred over the weekend after at least seven of the nine musical artists that had been announced for Trump’s “Freedom 250” event to be held in connection with the upcoming 250th anniversary of the US withdrew from the event. Trump’s reaction was to announce he would replace the concert with a political rally, and later saying he would just cancel the whole thing.
If Trump’s buffoonery were limited to those kinds of things that have no consequence to us in the Philippines we could safely ignore them, but unfortunately, it is not limited. We are right now witnessing an ongoing “Trump dump” in Iran. Late on Monday, it was reported that the peace talks had broken down — again — this time due to Israel’s escalation of attacks in Lebanon in violation of last month’s “ceasefire.” Having failed multiple times to bring Iran to heel on his terms, it is now expected that it is only a matter of a short time until Trump gives up, declares that he’s through with negotiations, and blames other nations for leaving the critical Strait of Hormuz in a strangled state, resulting in a worldwide energy crisis.
Obviously, the uncertainty of the situation to come will have a significantly negative impact on the Philippines, despite the minor reprieve we’ve received this week in the form of lower fuel prices. There is, however, another situation with longer-term implications that is potentially even more worrisome.
Over the past couple of weeks, there has been a great deal of positive news about potential US investment in the Philippines, first in the form of a proposed high-tech industrial estate under the so-called Pax Silica initiative, and just this week, a renewed expression of US support for the Luzon Economic Corridor initiative. While we have some skepticism about the first, it is true that both initiatives, if they go to plan, will provide massive economic benefits to the Philippines.
But are we already seeing the signs of a potential “Trump dump” that will leave the Philippines high and dry? First, there was the suggestion that the new ecozone under the Pax Silica program should have “diplomatic immunity” — essentially making it a US territorial outpost — which our government rightly rejected. Then over the weekend at the annual Shangri-La Defense Dialogue, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth strongly reiterated the US demand that its allies spend 3.5 percent of their gross domestic product on defense, or else the US would reduce its support. This is another demand we must reject, because it is simply not feasible.
We cannot expect Trump to be told “no” too many times without reacting poorly, but on the other hand, our country cannot simply bow to the whims of one questionable man, no matter how powerful. The Philippines must be cautious in how it deals with the US.