The Wall Street Journal says that el Presidente Trumpo sold out his promises and tough talk on trade with China in exchange for help with North Korea.
President Donald Trump said Wednesday he has offered President Xi Jinping more favorable trade terms for Beijing in exchange for help on confronting the threat of North Korea, raising the prospect of a new pact that does less than Mr. Trump would otherwise like to address the U.S. trade deficit with China.
Wow. I wonder if all his followers who believed his promises will care that he was just using them for leverage? And what if China can’t actually help with North Korea? What then?
Mr. Trump, in a wide-ranging interview with The Wall Street Journal, said he told Mr. Xi when they met for the first time last week that his administration wouldn’t accept a continued large trade deficit with China. He added that he told Mr. Xi: “‘But you want to make a great deal? Solve the problem in North Korea.’ That’s worth having deficits. And that’s worth having not as good a trade deal as I would normally be able to make.”
After saying over and over that China was cheating Americans through currency manipulation, the Trump admin refused to label them as such this week. Another promise out the window!
But as we’re documenting, it looks like North Korea is getting more belligerent, not less. So what exactly did Trump get in exchange for giving up his populist trade rhetoric against China?