6 ms·

I don't think that he cares much about steel mills and auto factories. His motives are unclear.

himom 8y ago
Destroy the US economy and foreign relations in order to appease the class schadenfreude negative attention-seeking behavior of the alt-right base.
- jonhendry18 8y ago
  And Putin, who owns Trump.
philwelch 8y ago
Swing states.
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slededit 8y ago
He's been pretty consistent on his message about trade since his talk show appearances in the 80s. That is unheard of consistency for Trump, so I do believe he thinks he's doing the right thing here. The problem is its only a first order analysis. He's likely thinking the military is powerful enough to function without help from allies, but ships need to refuel somewhere.
- petre 8y ago
  He can count on the UK, Poland and the Baltic and Scandinavian states as allies. Also on Romania in Eastern Europe, which provided facilities and the refueling station for the evacuation of Afghanistan during the Obama administration.
- fwdpropaganda 8y ago
  And saying that he's gonna exclude ZTE from US-Iran sanctions because that would cost China a lot of jobs. Is that consistency on trade as well? Did he run on China first policy?
  - thucydidesofusa 8y ago
    I don't think consideration for ZTE is tantamount to a "China First" policy and frankly I'm disappointed to see such an equivocation. It's unclear why Trump is concerned with ZTE but one has to imagine that it's a bargaining chip for something else. I suspect that Trump has demurred a bit on China because of North Korea.
  - jonhendry18 8y ago
    China approved some new trademarks for Ivanka, and agreed to fund $500 million for a Trump-connected project in Asia. Just around the time Trump started talking about saving ZTE jobs. Trump just wants bribes.
    - fwdpropaganda 8y ago
      That was a perfectly valid and factually correct observation. HN downvotes are getting a bit ridiculous. You can't say anything, you'll get downvoted. I really really don't understand this. And it seems to be getting worse.
d0lph 8y ago
I wouldn't say unclear: https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-05-31/what-do-steel-tariffs-have-to-do-with-iran-plenty https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-05-31/what-do-s...
jonhendry18 8y ago
Bribes. He wants bribes.

Destroy the US economy and foreign relations in order to appease the class schadenfreude negative attention-seeking behavior of the alt-right base.

jonhendry18 8y ago
And Putin, who owns Trump.

philwelch 8y ago

Swing states.

deleted 8y ago
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slededit 8y ago

He's been pretty consistent on his message about trade since his talk show appearances in the 80s. That is unheard of consistency for Trump, so I do believe he thinks he's doing the right thing here. The problem is its only a first order analysis. He's likely thinking the military is powerful enough to function without help from allies, but ships need to refuel somewhere.

petre 8y ago
He can count on the UK, Poland and the Baltic and Scandinavian states as allies. Also on Romania in Eastern Europe, which provided facilities and the refueling station for the evacuation of Afghanistan during the Obama administration.
fwdpropaganda 8y ago
And saying that he's gonna exclude ZTE from US-Iran sanctions because that would cost China a lot of jobs. Is that consistency on trade as well? Did he run on China first policy?
- thucydidesofusa 8y ago
  I don't think consideration for ZTE is tantamount to a "China First" policy and frankly I'm disappointed to see such an equivocation. It's unclear why Trump is concerned with ZTE but one has to imagine that it's a bargaining chip for something else. I suspect that Trump has demurred a bit on China because of North Korea.
- jonhendry18 8y ago
  China approved some new trademarks for Ivanka, and agreed to fund $500 million for a Trump-connected project in Asia. Just around the time Trump started talking about saving ZTE jobs. Trump just wants bribes.
  - fwdpropaganda 8y ago
    That was a perfectly valid and factually correct observation. HN downvotes are getting a bit ridiculous. You can't say anything, you'll get downvoted. I really really don't understand this. And it seems to be getting worse.

d0lph 8y ago

I wouldn't say unclear: https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-05-31/what-do-steel-tariffs-have-to-do-with-iran-plenty https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-05-31/what-do-s...

jonhendry18 8y ago

Bribes. He wants bribes.