President Donald Trump Has a New Tariff Worry: A Race Against Time – Is the whole Donald Trump saga over his tariff program one big example of the president playing “chess instead of checkers,” as his supporters insist?
Specifically, that means that the mercurial leader has an overall strategy and end state in mind for his trade war.
Or does it mean he changes his mind from hour to hour and reacts unpredictably to changes as facts on the ground ebb and flow?
It is a little of both.
Trump likes to play the long game with steely determination, and he enjoys playing fast and loose in the short term.
But he is also wary of making ordinary Americans fret about their 401(k)s and the higher prices they pay at the grocery store that would result from an endless trade war with the world.
Everyone Has a Case of the ‘Yips’
Trump has said that people were getting “yippy” about the tariffs. This is a golf analogy that means players can sometimes succumb to nerves and pressure. They begin missing shots and flubbing putts, and they would generally sink.
That means that Trump is paying careful attention to the financial market’s moves and the overall consumer sentiment about tariffs.
He may have been backed into a corner when he decided to change course and allow for a 90 day grace period for tariff negotiations with numerous countries except for China.
Was the Target China All Along?
However, the president may have wanted this chaotic state of affairs. China is now isolated politically and economically. Numerous countries received temporary tariff relief, but Trump has the long knives out for Beijing.
The president was asked about relations with Xi Jinping on Wednesday at the Oval Office. Trump said Xi was a smart man who loves his country. Trump didn’t lob any insults at Xi, but the American president’s intentions were clear. He offered no sign of allowing his hardline stance against China to abate soon. Trump said he is waiting for a phone call from Xi to begin negotiations.
Some Meme Makers on Social Media Are Having a Blast
One humorous meme making the rounds on social media was an AI-rendered image of Xi reading Trump’s famous book The Art of the Deal. While light-hearted and whimsical, the photo has a kernel of truth. Trump wants all his international partners to be aware that he is a master negotiator who will stop at nothing to make the American economy less dependent on foreign imports. Trump prefers deals that help the manufacturing prowess of his country, which has taken so many lumps over the years due to unfair trade practices from friends and adversaries.
Another meme showed Trump reading the Sun Tzu classic from China called the Art of War. This also is interesting because it shows that the former reality star and 47th president could be peering into what makes Xi tick.
China Has Trade Anxiety, Too
If that’s the case, then Trump may be on to something. The trade war with China shows no sign of abating soon. That may be what Trump is expecting. He wants Xi to fold his cards and give in to the “yips” too. The Chinese people are just as worried as the Americans about the global economy’s future. China must export or it will be strangled in the crib. The United States must have lower prices on Amazon and at Wal-Mart to allow its citizens to make ends meet.
Trump is not afraid to play chicken in this regard. He has succeeded if he wanted to create a “wrestling match” made in heaven. He has waited for decades to instigate this match-up – a trade war with China. Trump feels like he will be considered a hero if he wins.
Donald Trump and the Race Against Time
Trump also shows how he can hang in there when the world is smarting from his actions. The president believes he is holding all of the cards, and since the White House executes tariffs without congressional or judicial interference, he is totally in his element.
Trump will continue pursuing his end state of winning against China, and all the allies are worried about what the United States will do next. He can indeed play chess while others are playing checkers. But time is not necessarily on his side. It will take more than 90 days to fashion unilateral trade agreements with scores of countries. He may have to extend that deadline.
And then there is the unknown about China. Will Xi come to the table with no upper hand, or does he have an end state to make his country win the trade war, too? The coming days and weeks will be more serious than any meme on the Internet can convey.
About the Author: Dr. Brent M. Eastwood
Brent M. Eastwood, PhD is the author of Don’t Turn Your Back On the World: a Conservative Foreign Policy and Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare plus two other books. Brent was the founder and CEO of a tech firm that predicted world events using artificial intelligence. He served as a legislative fellow for U.S. Senator Tim Scott and advised the senator on defense and foreign policy issues. He has taught at American University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. Brent is a former U.S. Army Infantry officer. He can be followed on X @BMEastwood.
