The most generous and charitable interpretation I have here is that Donald felt he had to do something to stand tall and bold as he goes to visit his new bestie, Kim, and he just did it with that ham-handed, narcissistic flare that we’ve all come to know and cringe at.
Or we can go back to the interpretation of our Diplomat-in-Chief that he has no concept of “win-win” — that everything is a zero sum game where there is a winner and a loser, and compromise is the mark of a loser, so if he (and he alone) is not the clear winner, then he’s being made the loser.
Is the US strong enough to kick the EU, Canada, Japan, and, heck, let’s add Mexico (for NAFTA), and China (who Trump is separately trying to foment a trade war with) to the curb and still survive?
Maybe. We’re still a top-notch economy, even the top-notch economy. We could probably hurt any of them, even all of them, more than we’re hurt.
But we’ll be hurt. We’ll be badly hurt. Lost jobs that rely on imports. Lost jobs that rely on exports. Resources that have to be brought in from overseas. Huge hikes in labor rates. Increased cost of everything.
And that’s just in this country. Because even if we do “win,” the economies of all those other countries tank, which not only means a hella human suffering (yes, folk, even furriners can suffer, including people living in nations with marginal economies that will be hit even harder by a worldwide depression, let alone the beneficiaries of all the charitable / human aid work done by the wealthy countries that won’t be able to afford it any more), but a lot of wealth held by Americans will evaporate, too.
And if we get all of them working against us … well, Donald won’t care, because he’s set for life (in theory), or isn’t likely to live another twenty years. We, and our children, will be living a lot longer, and it won’t be pretty.
I mean it. The consequences of a gooftastic Donald Trump meeting with North Korea could lead to some very quick international horror, suffering, and loss of life. Declaring trade war on the rest of the world could be, if it seems possible, even worse, and for a lot longer.
There's a horse loose in the hospital!
Still to prove "We could probably hurt any of them, even all of them, more than we're hurt. " I mean Trump is going on on them all at once.
+Frank Nestel If you're doing that, it's the stupid way to do it … if you are giving it any thought.
Or he's just grandstanding for his voters, and he doesn't care because his own life span is relatively finite and all he's interested is the chanting crowds right now.
I think the US is going to hurt a lot more than they expect or understand if they go through with this insanity. They're a consumer economy market and they import much more than they export. American manufacturing has declined a lot too.
Typo "set for life" (feel free to delete comment)
I think he’s andreas, and if so I’m sorry
@Marc – Oh, dear.