Adopting the Macron Doctrine for Resisting Trump

You don’t best Donald Trump by going high. You best him by rolling around in the mud and embarrassing him.

The single biggest reason that Donald Trump is the President of the United States is that his Republican counterparts rolled over like dogs in 2015 to appease the bully. Instead of challenging Trump head-on, they demurred. They tried to showcase their true political views while positioning Trump as a wild outside. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that disrupting the status quo is exactly what voters wanted.

During the general election, Hillary Clinton took on Trump three times in debates and she slung the mud with him. It led to three dramatic, nationally-televised smackdowns. The New Yorker’s image of Hillary standing over a defeated Trump perfectly captured the essence of that moment.

But Hillary Clinton is a woman. So a wide swath of white America – specifically, male white America – saw her performance and were instantly reminded of their mothers telling them what not to do. Of course everyone likes Dad better – he’ll let you do anything!

As the unthinkable approached on Inauguration Day, it become painfully clear that the male-dominated Republican Party had been neutered. Not one of them had the cajones to stand up to Trump. They simply continued to excuse his behavior, no matter how erratic, how damaging or how troubling. They appeased their infantile leader.

Global leaders, at first, adopted a similar tact. There were clear differences, though, as foreign leaders clearly signaled their discomfort and displeasure with the new President. Whether it’s the long exhale of the Japanese prime minister or Justin Trudeau’s bemused look, the world knew how others felt about our President. Except our President.

Then came Trump’s disastrous trip to Europe and the tide turned thanks to French president Emmannuel Macron. Even though he decried “handshake diplomacy” after his first meeting with Trump, it was exceptionally clear that Macron had mastered the discipline.

As he clenched his hand tight around Trump and crunched him during a handshake, he let Trump know they were officially playing the same game. Trump doesn’t care about policy; he cares about optics.

You can instantly tell where a man falls in relation to Trump by the first handshake. Most Republicans have thrown up a floppy hand for Trump to dominate – none more than Neil Gorsuch, whose handshake with Trump felt more like a new prisoner’s entry into Oz. Trump owns that guy.

But others have resisted. We learned in retrospect how James Comey fought off Trump’s attempt at an embrace during that infamous meeting at the White House, when Comey tried to blend in with the drapes.

Macron took the offensive and he embarrassed Trump. He crunched his hand. He blew him off to greet Andrea Merkel. He spoke French to his face knowing he couldn’t understand, and then spoke English in a later meeting with Trudeau.

When Trump announced his attention to remove the United States from the Paris Accord – arguably the dumbest decision by a sitting President in my lifetime – it was reported that Macron’s ability to best him had played a role in his decision.

The bully had been bullied and he couldn’t take it. Macron had become so lodged inside of Donald’s tiny little brain that he made a mistake. Leaving the Paris Accord is horrible for the United States on every possible level. For the rest of the world, it presents an opportunity to improve their global standing because the US just vacated.

No one pounced hard that Macron, who dunked on Trump all day after the announcement through Twitter and public speeches. When he said that the world needed to “Make Our Planet Great Again,” he was highstepping over Trump’s fallen body like Deion Sanders.

Moving forward, this is how every single politician must fight Trump when they disagree with him. This is not a time to play nice. This is a time to look the bully right in the eye and let him know that his gimmick is nearing an end.

No one is afraid of Donald Trump anymore, and that scares Donald Trump.

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