Trump’s trade policy is like a page from French president Emmanuel Macron.
It’s neither here nor there, nor anywhere.
Yesterday, both China and the US touted a trade deal with China. This followed a bizarre Tweet from Trump that showed Trump’s concern for loss of jobs, not in the US, but China.
President Xi of China, and I, are working together to give massive Chinese phone company, ZTE, a way to get back into business, fast. Too many jobs in China lost. Commerce Department has been instructed to get it done!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 13, 2018
In response, China lifted tariffs and so did the US. I commented on the “progress” in ZTE Back From the Dead After Trump Reverses Sanctions.
Also Note These “About Face” Articles
Whoa! Stop the Presses!
Today we see Trump Denies Reaching Deal With China on ZTE.
What happened?
Congressional Opposition
The Wall Street Journal reports Congressional Opposition Mounts Over White House Approach to Chinese Tech Deals.
The Hill reports Senate panel overwhelmingly approves amendment blocking Trump on ZTE.
Who Cares What Anyone Thinks?
The man who did not give a rat’s ass about what anyone in either party thought now suddenly cares.
It’s been a pathetic scene to watch. I commented on that aspect yesterday in Trump Shuffle: China Runs Rings Around Trump’s Trade Policy by Standing in Place.
At the time it looked like this.
Reflections on Trust
Today we see that widely proclaimed “success” has been canceled thanks to political opposition.
Any foreign government that believes they can trust Trump is as foolish as any government that believes they can trust China.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
Trump will not be President in 2024 I will see to that he will not be President 2024 Miss Jamie Holland Testing The Water To Run For President In 2024
MacBeth was 100x the man Trump is.
Has no-one here ever been involved in a real-world negotiation? Do people really think that things move in a straight line and reach a “Buy The World A Coke” happy outcome within the 55 minutes of a TV program? Goodness! If Winston Churchill had been reading this blog, he would have been told to surrender to Germany even before Dunkirk!
Relax everyone! Events are in line with what should be expected when the US finally has a leader who stops bending over and grabbing ankles in front of a mercantilist China.
[Trump’s] .. but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: [he is] … an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.
Good will constrain Evil, but stupid nobody can fix
Bad management seen it a hundred times, Boss says everyone has to work half a day on Saturday. Then the line of complainers outside the bosses office, okay okay you don’t have to, and you don’t have to, and then the rest get stuck. Boss says sorry I already let half the office out of working Saturdays that leaves only the rest of you to do the work. Fire Trump
Those are basically my sentiments as well, although I have referred to Trump more often as a clown.
Trump is an idiot. I voted for him and would do so again. I would rather have an idiot president than an evil one. My hope is things get so messed up that the status quo is permanently broken. My fear is the democrats get back in control, crack down on free speech in the guise of protection from fake news, and make sure the only info people get is from mainstream media. Similar to Fahrenheit 451.
Getting the impression that the overall strategy of the Trump admin is to permanently keep focus overseas to the greatest extent possible. Whether jawboning for actual war (North Korea, Syria, Iran, Yemen, etc) or trade wars, make a lot of noise and draw attention. Flip flops are fine, maybe even desirable, as long as discussion is locked on international matters. Whether any of this bluster comes to fruition or not seems almost inconsequential.
Long gone are the days of MAGA, build the wall, lock her up, drain the swamp, and the rest of the ’16 slogans.