Donald Trump is a typical modern-day politician. He is on TV every day, he “resolves” conflicts, “prevents” wars, declares victories even before battles begin, blames others when things go wrong, and turns politics into entertainment.

By Nikola Mikovic
For the American audience, such an approach might be relatively new, given that previous US leaders often maintained a more formal tone, emphasised diplomacy over drama, and avoided constant media spectacle. There is, however, a country that seems to be a pioneer in this kind of political theatre: Serbia.

Julian Assange, the world’s most famous “inconvenient dissident”, has once described the Balkan state as a nation “in-between”, saying that it is a “place where the future happens first, with all its horrors and beauties.” Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, who has effectively ruled the country for the past 13 years, has long employed the very strategy that Trump would later adopt on the global stage.

Constant media presence, crisis-driven narratives, and a personalised style of leadership that blurs the line between governing and performing are Vucic’s signature tools of power. The 55-year-old Serbian leader dominates the public sphere through daily press conferences and emotional speeches, while pro-government media portray him as both the nation's saviour and its sole decision-maker.

In 2018, following his visit to Kosovo, his allies claimed he “prevented” the war between Serbia and its breakaway province. In reality, there were no indications whatsoever that a conflict was imminent. Trump seems to have fully adopted Vucic's narrative.

Most recently, during the signing of the Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and Interstate Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, he stated that he “prevented the war between Serbia and Kosovo.”

“We had to stop something that was about to start. We did not like it at all and we saved a lot of lives,” the US president said, referring to the “historic summit” between Vucic and then-Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti, held in Washington in September 2020 under Trump’s auspices.

Neither in 2018 nor in 2020 was a war about to start. The war in Kosovo ended in 1999, after NATO bombed Serbia, forced Belgrade to withdraw police and military forces from the province, and deployed its troops there. However, Vucic and Trump have pursued a narrative in which they present themselves as “peacemakers.”

Although the two leaders share a similar style of governance, that does not mean they like each other. In 2020, Trump publicly humiliated Vucic during a signing ceremony at the White House. A video went viral showing Vucic visibly confused upon realising he had agreed to move Serbia’s embassy to Jerusalem – something he appeared not to have fully understood before signing.

Even more symbolic was a widely circulated photograph of Vucic sitting alone in a chair across from Trump in the Oval Office, resembling a schoolboy being scolded by the headmaster.

That, however, had no impact on Vucic’s reputation at home, where his critics accuse him of humiliating his own allies in front of TV cameras. But in the eyes of his voters, he is a politician who carefully balances between the West, Russia, and China. Indeed, he is possibly the only world leader who has been firmly supported by policymakers in both Moscow and Washington, as well as in Beijing and Brussels.

Despite this, since November 2024, he has been faced with mass student-led anti-corruption protests throughout Serbia. Paradoxically, while Western officials turn a blind eye to police brutality, the Kremlin claims that the EU is attempting to orchestrate a “Maidan-style coup” against Vucic.

Such conflicting narratives allow the Serbian leader to pass repressive laws, further consolidate his power, and present himself as a “strong leader” to his supporters – the vast majority of whom have lower levels of education.

Given that Trump also enjoys support from a less educated segment of the population, it is no surprise that he recently said, “Smart people don’t like me.” Vucic, on the other hand, would almost certainly never say that, as he aims to portray himself as a protector of the poor and pensioners.

Still, both Vucic and Trump clearly understand who their target audience is, and they know precisely how to speak to them. “Preventing wars” is undoubtedly a great PR stunt that helps bolster their image as decisive leaders. It is, therefore, unlikely a pure coincidence that the two masters of political technology have a history of “saving the world” from large-scale conflicts.

In 2023, Vucic was portrayed as a leader who “prevented” World War 3, while one year later, Trump promised to “prevent World War 3.” They also cast themselves as presidents who have achieved “incredible economic successes” for their countries. In 2018, Trump stated that “in many ways this is the greatest economy in the history of America,” while in April of this year, Vucic claimed that the Serbs now enjoy “the highest salaries” in their history.

Previously, in February 2016, Vucic’s close allies insisted that he had “prevented a Serbian economic collapse,” while just two months later, Trump warned of a "very massive recession" and predicted an economic "mess" if he were not elected.

Such messages are not intended for the entire American and Serbian populations but are explicitly directed at Trump’s and Vucic’s supporters, to maintain their loyalty. Trump’s and Vucic’s almost daily addresses at press conferences – often featuring various charts and statistics – serve as carefully planned events designed to portray them as capable and engaged leaders.

They have also demonstrated a pattern of leveraging sensitive, ongoing investigations for political gain. In April 2024, following the disappearance of a two-year-old girl, Vucic acted as a police spokesperson, announcing that she had been murdered and that the police had arrested the alleged perpetrators.

In the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk murder, FBI Director Kash Patel reportedly ordered that the arrest of the suspected murderer not be announced publicly, so that Trump could reveal it himself the next morning on Fox News.

All these actions are unlikely to be just random moves, but rather carefully orchestrated marketing strategies. After all, as Edward Bernays, “father of public relations”, said: "The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organised habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society." Donald Trump and Aleksandar Vucic – or at least their PR teams – know how to do that quite well.