Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Wall Street Hits Over One-Week Low on Tariff Uncertainty, Data in Focus

6 hours ago

US Judge Blocks Trump Administration’s Use of Troops in Los Angeles

6 hours ago

Garnet Fire in Fresno County Grows to 26,982 Acres, 12% Contained

6 hours ago

US Construction Spending Dips in July

6 hours ago

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Signs Law Redrawing Congressional Maps

4 days ago

US Air Force will Offer Military Funeral Honors to Slain Capitol Rioter

4 days ago

US Republican Senator Joni Ernst Will Not Run for Re-Election, CBS News Reports

4 days ago

Minneapolis Children Revealed Courage, Absorbed Fear During Church Shooting

5 days ago
Zakaria: High Costs, Low Benefits Of Trump's Negotiating Prowess
GV-Wire-1
By gvwire
Published 7 years ago on
July 31, 2018

Share

The Trump two-step. That’s how Washington Post columnist Fareed Zakaria describes President Donald Trump’s negotiating style.


Fareed Zakaria
“It goes something like this: Begin by hurling insults at the other side, some of which have a basis in reality but are mostly wild exaggerations. Threaten extreme consequences. Then meet with the other side, backpedal and triumphantly announce that you have saved the world from a crisis that your rhetoric and actions caused in the first place.”

Productive Outcomes Lacking

While the president’s flashy signature move has brought him a lot of attention, Zakaria says in his July 26 commentary, it doesn’t lead anywhere productive.
Trump has used this gambit with North Korea, NATO, and the European Union, among others: “In none of these situations has he actually been able to extract real concessions,” Zakaria notes.
While Trump’s supporters are thrilled by the president’s unconventional style, Zakaria says it comes with a cost.
“Trump is creating a reputation for the United States as erratic, unpredictable, unreliable and fundamentally hostile to the global order.”

Partnerships and Investments Affected

As a result, countries who once allied strongly with the U.S. are now looking elsewhere for partnerships.

“America’s strongman has the power to disrupt the entire global economy.” — Fareed Zakaria
“You can see this in the flurry of trade agreements that don’t include the United States, from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was signed minus America, to the trade deal the EU just struck with Japan. Many others are in the works,” says Zakaria.
Another sign of discontent, he says, is the decline in foreign investment since Trump took office.
“On average, net foreign investment into the United States has dropped by half since 2016,” Zakaria writes. Despite favorable policies under the administration that would otherwise make the U.S. appealing, global investors are wary.
“Trump’s attacks on trade and allies, his willingness to punish and reward individual companies, and his general unreliability all add up to a picture of policymaking that looks more like that of an erratic developing country run by a strongman,” Zakaria concludes.
“The difference is, America’s strongman has the power to disrupt the entire global economy.”

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

US Congress Returns, With One Month to Avert Government Shutdown

DON'T MISS

Trump Says His Administration Will Ask Supreme Court for Expedited Ruling on Tariffs

DON'T MISS

Trump Says He’s Committed to Sending National Guard Troops to Chicago

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Arrest Teen After Traffic Stop Leads to Foot Chase, Firearm Recovery

DON'T MISS

Trump Dismisses Rumors He Is in Ill Health, Calls Them ‘Fake’

DON'T MISS

US Appeals Court Allows Trump’s EPA to Nix Climate Grants

DON'T MISS

Rubio Says US Military Conducted Lethal Strike Against Drug Vessel From Venezuela

DON'T MISS

Trump Says He Is ‘Very Disappointed’ With Putin Over Ukraine

DON'T MISS

Letter to the Editor: CSU Chancellor’s Silence on Joe Castro’s Passing ‘Is Appalling’

DON'T MISS

Disney to Pay $10 Million to Settle US Claim of Allowing Unlawful Collection of Children’s Data

UP NEXT

Trump Says His Administration Will Ask Supreme Court for Expedited Ruling on Tariffs

UP NEXT

Trump Says He’s Committed to Sending National Guard Troops to Chicago

UP NEXT

Trump Dismisses Rumors He Is in Ill Health, Calls Them ‘Fake’

UP NEXT

US Appeals Court Allows Trump’s EPA to Nix Climate Grants

UP NEXT

Rubio Says US Military Conducted Lethal Strike Against Drug Vessel From Venezuela

UP NEXT

Trump Says He Is ‘Very Disappointed’ With Putin Over Ukraine

UP NEXT

Letter to the Editor: CSU Chancellor’s Silence on Joe Castro’s Passing ‘Is Appalling’

UP NEXT

Trump Moves Space Command Headquarters to Alabama From Colorado

UP NEXT

What Could Nikki Henry’s $162,000 Buy for Fresno Unified? Let’s Ask AI

UP NEXT

China’s Xi Hosts ‘Old Friend’ Putin, North Korea’s Kim in Challenge to West

Fresno Police Arrest Teen After Traffic Stop Leads to Foot Chase, Firearm Recovery

57 minutes ago

Trump Dismisses Rumors He Is in Ill Health, Calls Them ‘Fake’

1 hour ago

US Appeals Court Allows Trump’s EPA to Nix Climate Grants

1 hour ago

Rubio Says US Military Conducted Lethal Strike Against Drug Vessel From Venezuela

1 hour ago

Trump Says He Is ‘Very Disappointed’ With Putin Over Ukraine

2 hours ago

Letter to the Editor: CSU Chancellor’s Silence on Joe Castro’s Passing ‘Is Appalling’

2 hours ago

Disney to Pay $10 Million to Settle US Claim of Allowing Unlawful Collection of Children’s Data

2 hours ago

Trump Moves Space Command Headquarters to Alabama From Colorado

2 hours ago

Fresno County Wildfire Burns Near Coalinga, CalFire Reports

2 hours ago

What Could Nikki Henry’s $162,000 Buy for Fresno Unified? Let’s Ask AI

2 hours ago

US Congress Returns, With One Month to Avert Government Shutdown

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Congress returns on Tuesday with less than a month left to perform one of its core functions – keeping federal a...

27 minutes ago

The U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., as the death toll from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic exceeds 100,000 victims, May 27, 2020. (Reuters File)
27 minutes ago

US Congress Returns, With One Month to Avert Government Shutdown

President Donald Trump leaves, following a cabinet meeting, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 26, 2025. (Reuters File)
51 minutes ago

Trump Says His Administration Will Ask Supreme Court for Expedited Ruling on Tariffs

A subway train travels on an elevated track above the Wells Street bridge in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., August 25, 2025. (Reuters File)
53 minutes ago

Trump Says He’s Committed to Sending National Guard Troops to Chicago

A 17-year-old on probation was arrested in southwest Fresno after fleeing a traffic stop and discarding a loaded firearm, police said on Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. (Fresno PD)
57 minutes ago

Fresno Police Arrest Teen After Traffic Stop Leads to Foot Chase, Firearm Recovery

President Donald Trump gestures during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 26, 2025. (Reuters File)
1 hour ago

Trump Dismisses Rumors He Is in Ill Health, Calls Them ‘Fake’

Signage at the headquarters of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 18, 2025. (Reuters File)
1 hour ago

US Appeals Court Allows Trump’s EPA to Nix Climate Grants

Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends an event at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 16, 2025. (Reuters File)
1 hour ago

Rubio Says US Military Conducted Lethal Strike Against Drug Vessel From Venezuela

President Donald Trump attends an event in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 2, 2025. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)
2 hours ago

Trump Says He Is ‘Very Disappointed’ With Putin Over Ukraine

Search

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Send this to a friend