The billionaire presidential candidate is doing just what needs to be done to triumph under the American system.

While Donald Trump’s dogmatic style would drive away European voters in droves, American politics puts a series of different obstacles in the way of any presidential candidate, which need to be confronted in different ways. The biggest, and the one behind many of Trump’s recent statements, is that he has chosen to run for the Republican Party.

In order to become president, candidates need to be elected twice. First they need to win a primary by receiving the most votes from party members in the fifty US states, then they need to win the election against the candidate of the other party. That is unless an independent or third party candidate became president, but that won’t be happening in our lifetimes.

The routine for a Republican candidate is simple. Set out what, to Europeans, would seem the most wacky possible positions on abortion, gay rights, foreign intervention, gun control etc and attack your opponents for being weak, in order to appeal to the party’s core vote (that’s right, the kind of people who drew the scorn of most of the planet by propelling George W. Bush to the White House). Then when you’ve won your primary, make a desperate rush for the centre ground in order to appeal to the majority of Americans. So conservative are Republican Party core voters that this is very difficult to do successfully.

Although staunchly against gun control, from the Republican perspective he has positions on gay rights and abortion that are at best inconsistent and at worst liberal. If the other candidates were able to focus on these issues, they might just be able to take the vote away from Trump.

Worst of all, Donald Trump isn’t even a Republican. He has made contributions to both of the two main parties over the years and counted Bill and Hillary Clinton as guests at his last wedding. He was also the only candidate in the Republican debate to refuse to rule out running as an independent if he didn’t win the primary. This very nearly put him out for the count, as Republicans have a dislike for independent candidates dating back to when Ross Perot ran as one in 1992 and supposedly cost George Bush Sr. the election.

Trump had to find a way to take the debate away from the other candidates’ comfort zones and to to obtain a tough guy persona that even the biggest gun-slinging, bible-reading oil baron couldn’t live up to. And he succeeded. After all, who will dare call you weak on abortion, gay rights or foreign intervention when you oppose all Muslim immigration to the US?

And if the ‘snooty liberals’ in France and Britain are signing petitions to ban him from their countries, all the better.

Trump even managed to oppose America’s intervention against Colonel Gaddafi in Libya and previously planned intervention against Bashar Al-Assad in Syria, as well as suggesting an alliance with Russia against Isis, and still appear tough. Such a stance might just play well if the election ends up being between him and Hillary Clinton.

Indeed Hillary Clinton is almost certain to be the final obstacle. She’s the candidate who nobody really wants to be president but most Americans will probably grit their teeth and vote for just because she looks like she is capable of doing the job.

Coming back to the point at the beginning of the article, won’t Trump have the same problem as most Republicans in trying to shift his views to the centre ground in order to defeat Hilary?

You would think so, but the answer is not necessarily. Hillary Clinton has so much experience that Trump cannot beat her on substance. He would be blown out of the water if he was bogged down in a debate on every aspect of presidential policy.

But let’s imagine a marathon session of Hillary – the ultimate figure of the establishment – castigating Trump for his views on Islam and immigration, as well as his comments about women. Americans might get so sick of it that they end up ticking Donald Trump’s name in ballot box next November.

So by all means dislike the guy and sign whatever petition you want. But remember, there’s method in the madness.