Bingo! The other thing Trump does very successfully is he continually ratchets up the pressure, adding new sanctions, new tariffs, new pressure points, all the while he compliments his opponent and says he's open to negotiation. So the other side feels increasing pressure and angst and begins to feel that Trump is a madman capable of anything, which he absolutely is btw. He is VERY successful in the very beginning stages of a negotiation as I think he's an expert at creating leverage. The weakness he has, though, is I feel he gives in too quickly to strike a deal. He creates so much leverage, but then he gains only half or less of what he could have achieved.
Look at the wall, for example. He could have the entire $5B, if he wanted, but it looks like he's going to accept $1.7B. That's a joke. He created enormous leverage and it looks like he's going to squander it. I don't care about the wall, but what I do care about is China and NK. We can't afford Trump squandering the leverage he has created on those two issues. We need the experts to go in there and get a great deal for the US.
If I was king, I'd engage Trump to create the leverage and the initial dialogue and then I'd remove him from the last 50 yards of the negotiation and have the experts finish that job. That way, we'd get the best out of Trump, while getting the best for the American people on the last half. Trump sucks at the last half of the negotiation, precisely because he doesn't care about details and loves the rush of getting a deal too much that he'll give away too much in the end. |
