- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/45433502
Archive link: https://archive.ph/YQ9qo
He can’t make a deal because he doesn’t actually know how to make a deal. He just throws a tantrum till somebody shoves a paci in mouth and coddles him.
He’s trying to negotiate from a stronger position than he has. China is something like the third largest US Treasury Bond holder.
He is trying to win at poker with a pair of 2s. All he can do is bluff. China knows they have a royal flush. Trump is loosing and all he can do is yell that it’s his casino, his table. He’s out of cards and his bookie wont set him another spot.
He really doesn’t seem to care or understand just how weak his position is. Using tariffs as a threat and bargaining piece is him telling China that “you need us more than we need you,” and he’s dead wrong about that.
It takes years to build up a supply chain and production facilities for domestic manufacturing. Not to mention, the production costs and consumer price would be much higher because of the difference in wages and labor. What happens in the meantime? It’s not like they simply eschew everything from China and keep trucking along as usual.
For that reason, I don’t think the poker analogy is very accurate. It’s really more like a starving guy refusing to buy $1.99 bread because he thinks he can convince his equally-starving friends to cook a 3 course steak dinner using a trashcan bonfire and a promise that tomorrow he’ll find a live cow somewhere in the middle of Detroit.
I’m confused. Am I supposed to applause china for someone finally standing up to Trump?
yes
I’m confused. Am I supposed to applause china for someone finally standing up to Trump?
He is learning the hard way that China is not an ass-kissing apprentice he can fire at will, and that politics is not a game show scripted to make him look good.
He is a complete failure at his job, and I am just waiting for a complete narcissic breakdown. It is due any time now.
That’s why, when other administrations are upset with trade, they work that shit out in back rooms out of sight of the public. Trump not only holds a losing hand, but he’s playing with his cards on the table face-up in a televised game. Because real diplomacy is the fucking opposite of showmanship.
But also, I think China knows well the adage of Napoleon: “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” Trump is fucking himself left and right and China is just sitting back, going, “Let’s give him rope and see where this goes.”
They are playing the long game, and they know in a few years, they are likely to be negotiating with someone very different, and they will be doing so from a position of much greater strength. So they can afford to ignore Trump.
The world as a whole can afford to ignore him. The rules are established, if he doesn’t want to play by them then he doesn’t get to play at all. The world will move on.
Then the US populace will suffer while learning that hard power is so much more expensive than soft power.
“I alone can make deals with Ghina! Ghina will cave bigly! The best deals! Deals that are good for everyone, billionaires and multimillionaires alike, believe me!”
Good brain, smart gut, best words.
I’m sorry, that’s a nearly perfect headline. I think every news organization should report on donvict in much the same manner.
“It’s like they speak a different language or something” - Trump (likely)
Where’s that ghost writer when you need them?
以一種無法處理嘅方式行事