Author Michael Wolff said on Monday that Donald Trump’s performance during the recent Mexican trade negotiations was just the latest demonstration that this president is a con artist, not a dealmaker.
The controversial author of ‘Seige: Trump Under Fire’ said the only thing Trump is skilled at is political theater as he often blows a lot of hot air but never actually achieves anything substantive.
“There is no credibility. It is all a lie,” Wolff said. “Nothing changes. The status quo remains. The only thing that’s different is that Donald Trump can say, ‘I got a secret deal.'”
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“In every situation, there is no credibility. It is all a lie. It all is make-believe,” Michael Wolff says of Trump’s claims to be a skilled negotiator. #ctl #p2 pic.twitter.com/yOBV90FQ9y
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) June 10, 2019
Wolff said:
In every situation, there is no credibility. It is all a lie. It all is make-believe. He would have you, of course think, well, this is a lie in service to a greater negotiating point. … I’m going to do this. I’m going to say this. And even if I’m lying, I’m using that pressure them for a deal. … This is amply documented at this point. It is not I’m using a lie for these purposes. I’m just using a lie, and I get nothing out of it. Nothing changes. The status quo remains. The only thing that’s different is that Donald Trump can say I got a secret deal. … Remember, he goes to North Korea, everybody is impressed. Impressed. But he goes there and he returns with nothing. Nothing changes.
Trump’s negotiating strategy: hot air and political theater
Donald Trump likes to claim he is a master dealmaker. He frequently piles insults on his predecessors for not having the negotiating skills that he has.
But as Wolff pointed out on Monday, the only thing different with Trump when it comes to negotiating with foreign leaders is that he is eager to tell blatant lies to cover up his inability to actually accomplish anything substantive.
The American people have seen that in his stalled negotiations with North Korea. They’ve seen it in his escalating trade war with China that’s hurting workers and consumers. And now they’ve seen it with Mexico, as Trump claims his tough talk over the past couple weeks is the reason for a deal that was agreed upon months ago.
As Trump himself would say, it’s all talk and no action.
Ultimately, it takes intellect and a strong grasp of complex issues to craft international agreements, whether it’s working toward the denuclearization of North Korea or trade with China and Mexico. Donald Trump lacks both of those traits, so he tries to fill this intellectual void with hot air and political theater.
Everybody not wearing a red MAGA cap – from the American people to foreign adversaries – can see right through it.
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Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
