HOW DONALD TRAMP MAKES DECISIONS?

SIMIĆ Dragan R. (Univerzitet u Beogradu – Fakultet političkih nauka), draganrsimic@yahoo.com
ŽIVOJINOVIĆ Dragan (Univerzitet u Beogradu – Fakultet političkih nauka), zivojinovic75@yahoo.com

The forty-fifth US president, unlike most of his predecessors, has no experience in political decision-making. Nevertheless, Trump’s behavior from the big business can help find patterns of his decision making. The two-and-a-half-year presidential term, however, provides convincing insights into how he makes decisions. Although he likes to make decisions and thinks he does it well, President Donald Trump actually spends very little time preparing for the most difficult decisions. In most cases, the president decides beforehand on instinct, and then actually just seeks justification and support for the decision already made. On the other hand, over-reliance on the closest circle of associates and not delving into the details and several aspects of the problem provides a too big opportunity for miscalculations and wrong decisions. In this mix of micromanagement and macromanagement, Trump’s model is most reminiscent of a competitive decision-making model, while in terms of control and involvement in the political process, his management style can be characterized by a Magistrate/Delegator combination; while when it comes to leader sensitivity to the context, we see Trump as the “Maverick”.

Keywords: United States; President of the United States of America; US Foreign and Security Policy; Donald Trump; decision-making process