Some Vietnamese experts have asserted that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will still hold the mindset of a business mogul in his second term, with the Indo-Pacific region continuing to be a hotspot of strategic competition.

Ambassador Bui The Giang, former head of the Department for Western Europe and North America under the Party External Relations Commission, said that the current Trump looks nothing different from him in his first term, which started in 2016.

On Sunday, U.S. media all called the presidential election, which took place on November 5, for Republican Trump, predicting he will win 312 electoral votes compared to Democrat Kamala Harris' 226.

To win the presidency, a candidate needs to secure 270 electoral votes.

As a result, Trump will be sworn in as the U.S. president for the second time on January 20.

“He will still maintain his entrepreneurial mindset, applying business approaches to social and governmental management as well as to internal and external relations,” Giang told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Thursday.

Trump is a decisive man in managing human resources, and he will still assume full control over staff decisions, according to Giang.

Echoing the same view as Giang, Nguyen Quoc Cuong, former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and ex-Ambassador of Vietnam to the United States, said that Trump's entrepreneurial spirit was reflected via his threat of sanctions in a business-like negotiation manner.

As the Republican Party wins control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, Trump will have a firm foundation to adopt more assertive policies, Cuong said.

Cuong quoted Trump as admitting that during his first presidential term, he did not know anyone in Washington, D.C., which led to mistakes in staffing.

This time around, however, Trump asserted that he now knows everyone in the capital.

“Trump is more confident and I believe that many staffers of his new administration have similar views as he does," Cuong said.

Significant impacts expected for Indo-Pacific region

The U.S. under Trump’s first administration withdrew from several international treaties and agreements.

After a few days of claiming control of the White House in his first term, Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Pacific trade deal, commonly known as TPP.

In June 2017, he announced his plan to withdraw Washington from the Paris climate agreement.

Speaking of Trump’s foreign policy in his second term, Ambassador Giang emphasized that Trump vowed to put ‘America First’ and ‘Make America Great Again.’

“Trump’s policies will not change," he said.

"However, although the U.S. federal government under the Trump administration withdrew from these international treaties and agreements [in his first term], especially the Paris one, multiple states and local governments were still joining these pacts,” he said.

Giang suggested leveraging the autonomy of U.S. states and local governments to strengthen partnerships with American counterparts.

Meanwhile, Cuong noted that in the second term, Trump’s administration would maintain a strong focus on the Indo-Pacific, which remains central to strategic competition, particularly between the U.S. and China.

The competition is expected to become more fierce in multiple fields in the coming years.

As a member of the region, Vietnam could not be an outsider.

“With its foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, openness, diversification, and multilateralism, Vietnam will work well to bring about benefits," he said.

Right-wing politics wins

At a recent roundtable hosted by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, the two diplomats noted that Trump’s victory reflects a growing wave of right-wing movements around the world.

“Right-wing movements or conservatives have won not just in the United States, but also in Germany, France, the European Parliament, Austria, the Netherlands, and Hungary," Cuong said.

Trump's victory highlighted a global trend inspiring conservatives worldwide, heard the roundtable discussion.

His catchphrases ‘America First’ and ‘Make America Great Again’ clearly reflect the trend of conservatives, Cuong said.

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