It's an interesting thought - but if Trump does have the personality disorder i believe he does, then he won't be thinking long term strategy. Trump is a here-and-now action type man, responding emotionally and intuitively to whatever is presented to him that day. Usually responding in a way which maximises discussion about him.
Large governments and organisations often have corruption and waste built in - but how it is removed is a more complicated problem. Trump, with a lack of foresight, may be throwing the baby out with the bathwater. It's his baby to throw, he's got the mandate to lob infants into the abyss all he wants. USAID has been closed (subject to legal challenge) but this is a US hedge against countries becoming indebted to the Chinese through Belt and Road. USAID is soft-diplomacy. That may appear corrupt, but a lot of foreign aid is there to create stability. Think Indoneisa or Jordan. Trump may have tarnished the American brand for stability with his bold initiatives.
The problem with the presumption of intelligence - and things being part of Trump's master plan - is that it sort of relies on him having one. I don't think he does. It relies on a lot of people reverse engineering genius into gaps marked 'inexplicability'. He might be playing 4 dimensional chess, he might also just be an old guy with a personality disorder. People can be entitled to think the first, I think the second - for all the reasons outlined in this article. If Trump doesn't have a master plan, then he's simply a useful tool for someone who does have a master plan and the ability to flatter him into enacting it. Having a carefully woven together strategy isn't Ricky's strong point, he responds in the moment to the moment in whatever way he feels will advantage him the most. It's one of the reasons we don't put him in charge of the hospital.
We'll see with Trump. There's 4 years of this to go, but from outside the US I can confidently say, Trump is hurting the US brand as far as we're concerned. Perhaps we do need to step up and make sure the EU does better at defending ourselves....perhaps we will split into Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia as Orwell suggested. ;o)
