'Fear of the madman' has allies hoping Rubio can rein in 'crazy' Trump: analyst

As Donald Trump prepares to be sworn in for a second term, allies and opponents of the U.S. are bracing for a return to his unpredictability and hoping Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), tabbed to the the next secretary of state, will have a calming effect on him.

According to an analysis by the Guardian's Diplomatic Editor Patrick Wintour, foreign leaders and diplomats have been dreading the return of Trump who has been making bold announcements –– with an emphasis on tariffs –– prior to his swearing in and have been hard at work game planning their own "reprisals."

As Wintour pointed out, Trump recently told the Wall Street Journal that President Xi Jinping of China “respects me because he knows I am f--king crazy.”

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The Guardian columnist offered, "Unfortunately, fear of the madman recedes if he does not occasionally do something truly deranged. For that reason, many expect Trump to start his administration fast, trying to unsettle his opponents and prove his America First approach has substance."

That is where Rubio comes in, diplomats hope.

"More generally, European diplomats insist they are not clutching at straws when they say the Trump administration’s policies may be more nuanced than his rhetoric," the report states before adding, "The transcript of Rubio’s Senate confirmation hearing is also being cited as a sign that the US is not about to pull up the drawbridge. His evidence repeatedly referred to the US’s global role and the importance of cultivating alliances, even admitting a preference to cooperate with Mexico over fighting drug cartels."

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That led Wintour to ask if Rubio will have a real-world impact.

"The former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has warned that in the new US administration there will be only be one decision maker: Donald Trump," he wrote before recalling, "Turnbull advises that as the executive orders pour out of the White House next week – many of them hostile to the US’s allies – the test will be first to stand up to the bullying, but then to convince him there is common ground, for there is only one question – commercial and political – that Trump ever asks: 'What’s in it for me?'"

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