For years, Donald Trump has boasted that only he has the talent and cunning to stare down the world’s strongmen. Where his predecessors failed, he would succeed.
In Trump’s telling on the campaign trail, the negotiating skills he honed in the rough and tumble of New York’s real estate sector meant he was uniquely suited to end conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza and seal a trade deal with China.
Now Trump’s “Art of the Deal” reputation — puffed up by administration officials who call him the best negotiator to serve as president to date — is taking fresh hits.
Vladimir Putin isn’t backing down in Ukraine, Iran won’t give up its nuclear program, and China isn’t playing ball on trade. Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas have largely ignored Trump’s entreaties to stop air strikes or release hostages.
“I like President XI of China, always have, and always will, but he is VERY TOUGH, AND EXTREMELY HARD TO MAKE A DEAL WITH!!!” Trump wrote in a social-media post yesterday, a surprise admission and a stark contrast to his usual braggadocio.
Hours later, he held a call with Putin and conceded it was “not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace.”
That too marked a major reversal. Just recently, Trump’s secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said only a direct call between the two leaders would bring the war to an end. But Putin has repeatedly made clear he’s in no mood to give Trump the ceasefire he’s demanded.
The US president’s pattern of backing down on tariffs meanwhile spawned the now-famous Taco Trade — Trump Always Chickens Out.
Leaders like Putin and Xi — not to mention those in Iran and Venezuela — appear to have come up with their own way of handling Trump. He may not chicken out, but waiting him out seems to work just as well. — Nick Wadhams