The Myth of Trump's transactional foreign policy—and Canada's response

Since the beginning of Trump's first presidency in 2017, his foreign policy has been characterized by scholars and journalists as “transactional.” According to this view, he has prioritized short-term economic gains over promoting principles and has been indifferent to other countries’ political systems when dealing with them. This paper argues, however, that since becoming president in 2025, Trump's foreign policy has shifted from a transactional approach to a tributary one—an attempt to create an international system that harkens back to the historic East Asian international system, when other countries had to come to China's capital and pay tribute to the emperor. This paper shows that Trump's tariffs lack a sound economic logic, and that, in contrast to the indifference that characterizes a transactional foreign policy, Trump's approach has favoured autocratic states over democratic ones. It concludes by suggesting that Canada and other traditional allies need to recognize this tributary nature and stiffen their resistance to Trump.