Listen, when freestyle Trump shows up (as opposed to “presidential Trump”), you know that whatever comes next in terms of off-the-cuff rambling and maniacal shrieking is going to contain so many crazy soundbites that it will be impossible to promptly catalogue them or otherwise take stock of what you’ve just heard.
So you kind of have to pick out what you think is the most notable quotable (so to speak), explain why it’s critical and then try and extrapolate what the implications are for policy and markets.
Later, you can go back and lampoon all the rest of it.
Well obviously, the most notable bit to come out of last Tuesday’s surreal rally in Phoenix was this (and please, do note the demagogue-er-ific lead-in, where he kind of strolls back up to the podium and parrots the crowd parroting him in an unnervingly deadpan, frowny-faced declaration – “build that wall”) :
Pres. Trump: "If we have to close down our government, we're building that wall." https://t.co/iiV4UqcpJw pic.twitter.com/4u2ZNvAuxJ
— ABC News (@ABC) August 23, 2017
But as notable as that most certainly is considering we’re quickly approaching the debt ceiling “drop dead” date which not-so-happily coincides with the federal spending deadline, it’s important not to forget that he also said this:
Personally, I don’t think we can make a deal, on Nafta, so I think we’ll end up probably terminating Nafta at some point.
Says the man who has variously claimed to be the greatest deal maker in the history of the universe.
Now clearly, that is not in anyone’s best interest no matter what anyone tells you. This gets back to the whole myth being foisted upon the unwitting masses about how globalism and trade are bad for America.
I’m not going to get into that debate here, but just note that you cannot simply scrap NAFTA. It’s not like changing your mind about where to go to dinner. There are consequences – “big league” consequences.
Well apparently Trump figures he needs to inject a little drama into this evening’s Asia FX session because he just tweeted this:
As usual, he has managed to cram so much absurdity into 140 characters that it’s impossible to parse it all, but the first question that comes to mind is this: why the fuck is that posed as an interrogative?
Is he conducting a Twitter poll on NAFTA?
And further, everyone knows you are in the renegotiating process – it’s like he’s reminding himself what’s going on in the form of a tweet to other people.
Finally, there is no way to quantify “worst deal ever made” but if I were going make a subjective judgement on the matter, I would think “any deal Native Americans made with European settlers” has at least a claim to a top ten spot on the “worst trade deals ever made” list.
Oh, and he threw in this for good measure:
With Mexico being one of the highest crime Nations in the world, we must have THE WALL. Mexico will pay for it through reimbursement/other.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 27, 2017
No. They. Will. Not.
Although it’s not clear what “other” means.
How Will Mexico Pay For Giant Immigrant-Be-Gone Wall?
— Heisenberg Report (@heisenbergrpt) August 27, 2017
He wants everyone to think that “We are in NAFTA” renegotiations as if to say he’s involved in the details, nuances, terms, and conditions as real negotiators and deal makers do. Yet, it’s been clear from the start that he doesn’t participate in any endeavor that calls for knowledge, energy, hard work, discipline, reading, focus, sustained and direct attention, and all that which skilled people call upon. Trump’s “skills,” if recognized as such, are talking, lying, destroying, tearing people and things apart, and calling attention to himself every minute of the day at the expense of literally everything and everyone. He is the Great the Destroyer and not the great communicator.
I’m sure glad I don’t have to deal with this kind of stuff for a living! NAFTA is a confusing give and take agreement between 3 Nations. I read many articles trying to really understand what trump’s beef was with NAFTA – and all I know for sure is that he wants the TAKE part and does not like the GIVE part. Trust me when I direct your attention to a couple of publications I found very helpful. The first one is an overall explanation, “The Key Points”. Also, a part of it gets into what he can and cannot do without Congress! In the text of this article is a referral to “Pros and Cons” and that is the second link below. On it’s on, the 2nd link was very helpful!
https://www.thebalance.com/donald-trump-nafta-4111368
https://www.thebalance.com/facts-about-nafta-statistics-and-accomplishments-3306280
– Murphy
p.s. Marty is totally correct in his comments. Trump is not competent to even negotiate all the details of this Agreement!
It’s a sure bet, Murphy, that before he declared in June 2015, he watched Fox, read his far right twitter feed and Breitbart and learned that NAFTA was a whipping target for them, and made it part of his campaign. If he had to carry on a real conversation about NAFTA with graduating senior from a two-year community college in Nashville, he’d sound like Barron Trump explaining the terms of NAFTA. He’s an ignorant fool when it comes to the details of any of these issues. He knows the headlines, the emotive buttons to bush and the liners that make him feel smart. He’s a loser made no smarter by the fact that he was inaugurated as president.
LOL! Loved the description of him having a conversation about NAFTA! That was great!! Truth is, after all the stuff I read and the two links I posted, even I could out-debate him about NAFTA. Well, if the debate took place within maybe 48 hours…so complicated, I would forget…nah, he would still fail!! I also read quotes on this subject from his mouth that are complete conflicts with other quotes from his mouth! Ignorant fool is right!
Hopefully, we can fix all the stuff he screws up once we get his big ass out of the way!
– Murphy
Right now there are at least a few policy strategists in Ottawa and possibly even Mexico City wondering how they can maneuver this into a last-minute deal-or-no-deal situation where, as with healthcare, Trump will be prepared to accept virtually anything passed up to him as long as he gets to put his signature on it and take credit for it.
Speaking as a resident of Canada right now, I’m sure the government of this country can’t make up its mind whether to be nervous about the prospects of Trump cancelling NAFTA unexpectedly at 3 a.m. one day via Twitter, or salivating at the prospect of negotiating with the great deal-maker.
Because if his tenuous grasp of something as comparatively simple as healthcare reform legislation was any indication, we can be sure that he will contribute precisely nothing constructive to the American side of the negotiating table.