Donald Trump spent most of Friday insisting he’s done more for Christianity than anyone since Jesus.
And we mean that literally.
“The fact is, no President has ever done what I have done for Evangelicals, or religion itself!”, he claimed, in response to Christianity Today’s call for his removal from office.
In between generating fodder for Second Coming memes, Trump entertained a phone call with his Chinese counterpart. Then, he hopped back on Twitter to tell everyone about it.
“Had a very good talk with President Xi of China concerning our giant Trade Deal”, Trump said, adding that “China has already started large scale purchaes [sic] of agricultural product & more”.
There’s considerable debate in market circles about whether it’s feasible for China to hit Trump’s $40 to $50 billion target for farm product purchases. Even before the trade war, the totals were nowhere close to that range.
Bob Lighthizer has variously attempted to explain the math and Beijing is crunching the numbers. Specifically, reports suggest China is considering a variety of options for hitting the mark, including a reduction of tariffs on ethanol and diverting shipments currently routed through Hong Kong.
Still, skeptics abound. It’s also unclear when the deal will be signed. Trump tried to address that on Friday. “Formal signing being arranged”, he said, in a half-sentence, before noting that the two leaders “also talked about North Korea, where we are working with China, & Hong Kong”.
He then said the following (parentheses, punctuation and all): “(progress!).”
As it turns out, the call wasn’t as cordial as Trump made it sound, especially not when it comes to Hong Kong.
According to Xinhua, Xi told Trump that Beijing is extremely irritated with “the negative words and deeds” coming out of the US on Hong Kong and Xinjiang. “These actions have interfered in China’s internal affairs, harmed China’s interests and undermined mutual trust and cooperation between the two sides”, Xinhua said.
Congress has, of course, passed legislation in support of the pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong, much to Beijing’s chagrin. Due to the overwhelming bipartisan, bicameral nature of the bills, Trump had no choice but to sign them into law.
In October, the US gave Hikvision the Huawei treatment, blacklisting the Chinese surveillance giant along with 28 public security bureaus and companies in a rebuke of China’s human rights record and specifically, Beijing’s treatment of the Uighurs. Earlier this month, Congress passed legislation that would mandate sanctions on Chinese officials found to be liable for the repression of Turkic Muslims. China promptly threatened unspecified retaliatory measures, and eventually said Beijing would sanction some US NGOs and suspend Hong Kong port visits for the US Navy.
Xi reportedly advised Trump on Friday to “pay close attention to and attach importance to China’s concerns, and prevent the interference of bilateral relations and the important agenda”.
Let’s be clear on something, because this can often get lost in the proverbial shuffle: Xi Jinping is not “friends” with Donald Trump, no matter how many times the US president talks up his “great relationship” with the Chinese strongman. Sino-US relations are at a historic nadir, and last Friday’s nebulous “phase one” trade agreement barely scratches the surface when it comes to changing the dynamic.
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill generally support Trump’s hardline stance towards Beijing, with some (notably Marco Rubio) arguing for even harsher measures than those the administration has already adopted.
Wilbur Ross told Bloomberg on Friday that the US could add additional tariffs if China doesn’t hold up its end of the bargain on the interim agreement between the world’s two largest economies. Of course, nobody even knows what that bargain actually entails with any degree of specificity, and Lighthizer’s protestations aside, you can bet the written agreement will admit of more than a little ambiguity.
“We wanted to deal particularly with agriculture, which has been so unfairly penalized by the Chinese in retaliation for our section 301 tariffs on them”, Ross said.
None of this is likely to derail US equities headed into the new year, but nobody would blame you for harboring a healthy bit of skepticism about the prospects for anything beyond a temporary thawing in bilateral relations.
“We wanted to deal particularly with agriculture, which has been so unfairly penalized by the Chinese in retaliation for our section 301 tariffs on them”
Trump’s base is only happy when they are victims.
What’s unfair about China’s retaliation? Trump hit them, they hit back. Shocking
It is not about actual results. It is all about the image.
I hear from many people that trumpianity is going bigly.
2025 will be trumpian year 0 with AT the new reference. Before 2016 is BT. And 2016-2024 is PH. (Pure Hell)
Merry trumpnas
He’s supported by maybe 40 percent of Americans. Dems hold House in 2020, flip the Senate, and, if they don’t win the WH outright, will impeach AND convict Trump in 2021. And that will be the end of the longest-running farce in recent American history.
For those who like to gamble a bit… A yuge investment in champagne would pay off if the ogre is defeated.
The agreement does not seem to require the Chinese to consume the agricultural goods; just to buy them. Can China meet the goals by playing middleman for other nations that want to purchase US crops?