American however is like Trump (9)
I believe the answer is:
leastwise
'american however' is the definition.
(US word roughly meaning 'however')
'is like trump' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'is' is within the answer.
'like' could be 'as' and 'as' is found within the answer.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
(Other definitions for leastwise that I've seen before include "If nothing else" , "anyway" , "However (US)" , "in any case" , "in Hollywood at any rate" .)