Outside of going to the funeral for former president George H.W. Bush, Trump has spent his day of mourning ranting about a China deal that doesn’t actually exist.
Trump tweeted:
“China officially echoed President Donald Trump’s optimism over bilateral trade talks. Chinese officials have begun preparing to restart imports of U.S. Soybeans & Liquified Natural Gas, the first sign confirming the claims of President Donald Trump and the White House that……
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 5, 2018
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
…..China had agreed to start “immediately†buying U.S. products.†@business
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 5, 2018
One of the very exciting things to come out of my meeting with President Xi of China is his promise to me to criminalize the sale of deadly Fentanyl coming into the United States. It will now be considered a “controlled substance.†This could be a game changer on what is…….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 5, 2018
Very strong signals being sent by China once they returned home from their long trip, including stops, from Argentina. Not to sound naive or anything, but I believe President Xi meant every word of what he said at our long and hopefully historic meeting. ALL subjects discussed!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 5, 2018
Trump did manage to squeeze in one tweet about George H.W. Bush, but he also tweeted about OPEC.
The China Deal Doesn’t Actually Exist
There is only one problem with Trump‘s China deal.
The deal doesn’t exist.
As The New York Times reported, no one knows what Trump is talking about:
Even White House officials who were in the meeting with Mr. Xi were not sure what Mr. Trump meant. Peter Navarro, one of Mr. Trump’s top trade advisers, said on NPR that the subject came up, but he could offer no details. Larry Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council, acknowledged to reporters in a briefing that he was uncertain what Mr. Trump was referring to but said he hoped all the tariffs will eventually reach zero.
“We don’t have a specific agreement on that,†he said.
Vanity Fair went beyond the reporting in The Times and called Trump’s talk a scam.
The deal doesn’t exist, but Trump would rather rant about an imaginary accomplishment than show respect and pay proper tribute to George H.W. Bush.
For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.
Follow Jason Easley on Facebook.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
