Really, really bad
President Trump said on Saturday that he had brought up with America’s closest allies the dramatic prospect of completely eliminating tariffs on goods and services, even as he threatened to end all trade with his counterparts if they didn’t stop what he said were unfair trade practices.
Speaking to reporters at the end of a contentious weekend meeting of the Group of 7 nations in a resort town outside of Quebec City, Mr. Trump said that eliminating all trading barriers would be “the ultimate thing.” But he railed about what he called “ridiculous and unacceptable” tariffs on American goods and vowed to get rid of them.
“It’s going to stop. Or we’ll stop trading with them. And that’s a very profitable answer, if we have to do it,” Mr. Trump said, adding, “We’re like the piggy bank that everybody’s robbing, and that ends.”
Paul Krugman says those tariffs DON’T EXIST.
Really, really bad. Trump is throwing a temper tantrum, threatening dire retaliation against our allies for high tariffs THAT DON'T EXIST. You can't reach a deal with someone who demands you stop doing something you aren't doing 1/ https://t.co/xGjrqY9fgk
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) June 9, 2018
Mr. Trump’s comments came during a wide-ranging news conference as he prepared to depart for a summit meeting in Singapore with Kim Jong-un, the reclusive leader of North Korea. Mr. Trump said he would know within the first minute of his face-to-face meeting whether Mr. Kim was serious about eliminating his nuclear weapons and attempting to make peace with the world.
“Just my touch, my feel. That’s what I do,” Mr. Trump said. “You know, the way they say you know if you’re going to like somebody in the first five seconds. Did you ever hear that one? Well, I think that very quickly I’ll know whether or not something good is going to happen.”
Oh godddddddd he’s so stupid. He can’t know any such thing at a glance, and a guy who’s stupid enough to think he can and act on it should not be anywhere near government. He’s perfectly capable of instantly deciding he loves Kim and giving away the store while getting nothing in return. It’s pretty obvious that he’s already decided that and is using the Magic Glance bullshit as cover.
In his remarks to questions on Saturday, Mr. Trump repeatedly insisted that the private discussions with his counterparts had been positive, saying that “the relationship that I’ve had with the people, the leaders of these countries has been — I would really rate it on the scale of zero to 10, I would rate it a 10.”
Or on a scale of zero to seventy leventy trillion, he would rate it a seventy leventy trillion, because he’s just that good.
Mr. Trump said some of the other leaders he met with during the Group of 7 summit appeared to admit that their trade arrangements with the United States were unfair.
“A lot of these countries actually smile at me when I’m talking,” he said. “And the smile is, ‘we couldn’t believe we got away with it.’ That’s the smile.”
No, Don, that’s not the smile. The smile is of awed contempt.
You know, I often know in the first five seconds whether I will like someone or not – and I am wrong about as often as I am right.
If Trump tries his handshake thing with Kim, Kim’s security might shoot him.
Works for me. Didn’t take 5 seconds to realise what an awful person Trump is.
What worries me is the possibility that Kim and Donnie might actually gel on a personal level. Even if they loath one another they might recognise the value of each other as each others saviour. Like a couple of mobsters divvying up territory between them, they may be rivals, but have certain common interests. Like avoiding the law. If the two men reach a mutual understanding who can say what awful arrangements they might make to each others benefit. NK and USA may not fair so well as of course the successful outcome is that which allows the two crooks to continue occupying their current positions.
Don’t be surprised the way things are going if it results in Nobel peace prizes. That should please the base.
Of course he’s railing against non-existent tariffs; in a week or two he’ll be bragging that ‘those unfair tariffs, they’re gone now, I told them all at the G7 to remove them or else, and now they’re gone’.
Remember when BushII announced that he knew he could trust Putin? Because he saw that Putin was wearing a cross around his neck.
Hitchens inquired whether anyone had seen Vlad use that prop before or since…