FBI negotiator Chris Voss reveals why empathy, not
aggression, drives Trump’s deal-making style.
Washington, D.C. — August 16, 2025. While President
Donald Trump often portrays himself as a tough dealmaker, world-renowned
negotiation expert Chris Voss argues that his real secret weapon is something
unexpected: empathy.
President Trump has long claimed that his success
in politics and business rests on his ability to strike bold deals. From
tariffs and trade wars to high-stakes diplomacy, he frequently emphasizes
toughness and unpredictability as his strongest assets.
Yet, according to Chris Voss, a former FBI lead
international kidnapping negotiator, Trump’s greatest negotiation tool is not
aggression but empathy — what Voss calls “tactical empathy.”
“Tactical empathy is about deeply understanding
your counterpart,” Voss explained in a recent interview. “It doesn’t mean you
agree with them, but it means you know what drives them, what they fear, and
what they want.”
Voss, who spent nearly 25 years with the FBI and
managed over 150 international hostage negotiations, says Trump’s methods
mirror strategies used in life-or-death situations. “When people feel heard,
they are more likely to make concessions. That dynamic appears in politics just
as much as in hostage negotiations,” he noted.
This perspective challenges the common public image
of Trump as a purely combative negotiator. While critics often accuse him of
posturing and retreating at the last moment — branding him with the acronym
TACO, or “Trump Always Chickens Out” — Voss believes there is more subtlety behind
the scenes.
Supporters, for their part, have long argued that
Trump’s unpredictable style forces foreign leaders and domestic opponents to
take him seriously. They point to trade renegotiations with countries like
China, Canada, and Mexico as proof of his ability to secure concessions.
Voss suggests these results may stem less from
unpredictability and more from his instinctive grasp of human psychology. “The
simple act of repeating back what someone has said, or adjusting your tone to
show understanding, can disarm even the most resistant counterpart,” Voss said.
This approach is central to Voss’s philosophy of
negotiation, outlined in his best-selling book Never Split the Difference.
Since its release in 2016, the book has sold millions of copies and is widely
regarded as a bible of modern negotiation strategies.
Among the techniques Voss promotes are “mirroring”
— repeating a person’s last few words to encourage them to expand — and
“labeling,” which involves naming the emotion someone is expressing. Trump, he
argues, demonstrates versions of these tactics when he reframes opponents’
arguments or acknowledges grievances before countering them.
Trump’s critics, however, remain unconvinced. They
argue that what Voss calls empathy may in practice be closer to manipulation or
theatrics, pointing to his public outbursts on social media and abrupt policy
reversals as evidence of inconsistency rather than strategy.
Still, Voss insists that empathy should not be
confused with softness. “Empathy is not sympathy,” he clarified. “It’s a
tactical tool. It’s about gathering information, diffusing tension, and
steering the conversation toward an outcome that favors you.”
The debate over Trump’s negotiating style comes at
a time when the former president faces new challenges both domestically and
abroad. Analysts say the ability to defuse tensions — whether with political
rivals or international adversaries — could be more critical than ever.
For ordinary citizens and business leaders, Voss’s
observations serve as a reminder that negotiation is less about dominance and
more about understanding. “You win not by overpowering, but by listening,” he
explained.
Trump’s brand as a dealmaker has always been
polarizing. Yet Voss’s insights suggest that beneath the bluster lies a
technique recognizable to seasoned professionals: empathy as strategy.
Whether Trump consciously deploys these methods or
they arise naturally from his instincts remains an open question. But for Voss,
the results speak louder than appearances.
“Empathy works,” he concluded. “Even when the world
doesn’t expect it.”