As the trade war drags on, China’s President Xi has Trump’s shriveled little raisins in his fist, but Trump still seems to think he has the upper hand. CNBC summarizes this morning’s tweet-negotiations:
President Donald Trump pressured China on Tuesday to make a trade deal with the U.S. in the near future, warning talks will get much tougher if he is reelected in 2020.
Trump said in a series of tweets: “We are doing very well in our negotiations with China. While I am sure they would love to be dealing with a new administration so they could continue their practice of “ripoff USA”($600 B/year),16 months PLUS is a long time to be hemorrhaging jobs and companies on a long-shot…And then, think what happens to China when I win. Deal would get MUCH TOUGHER! In the meantime, China’s Supply Chain will crumble and businesses, jobs and money will be gone!”
Meanwhile, Xi, who despite being president for life in an autocratic country and thus above petty concerns like fluctuations in popular support and elections, probably knows how to read polls. One recent poll shows Trump losing by double-digits to Biden, Harris, Sanders or Warren — and that’s in an economy where Trump’s mismanagement hasn’t yet resulted in widespread pain, though signs are on the horizon.
The real question is what Xi thinks is in his own and China’s bests interests. Is China better off with a belligerent idiot in charge of their most formidable geopolitical foe or not? We’ll find out soon enough.
Open thread!
ETA: Speaking of world’s greatest negotiators…
This was the moment Boris Johnson lost his majority in parliament https://t.co/j9uMkLTaQl pic.twitter.com/l9dwkIIzUi
— The Independent (@Independent) September 3, 2019
Jesus. What a pair of clowns.