In his first term as president, Donald Trump repeatedly backed down in confrontations with China, on everything from currency manipulation to ZTE to the “One China” policy. It reached a point where China’s state-run media, mocking the American president as a paper tiger, ran a headline in 2017 that read, “Trump slaps self in face, again.”
In his second term, it’s happening again. Georgetown University professor Abraham Newman wrote a great piece for MSNBC on the Republican scaling back his trade tariffs on China this week, noting that the White House’s celebrations of the developments aren’t quite in line with reality.
While the U.S. did avoid a major economic calamity, this is not a deal. The U.S. blinked. … Far from some diplomatic coup, the U.S. climb down reflects the economic risks of maintaining such high tariffs. Activity at West Coast ports had slowed to levels not seen since the pandemic. News from the ports was mirrored in reports of layoffs and bankruptcies among small businesses. Just as bond markets had forced the administration’s hand in April, when it had imposed extreme tariffs against many allies, cutting off trade flows with China had significantly raised the chance of a recession.
Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers came to the same conclusion, telling CNN, “I think it’s very clear that it’s President Trump who blinked.”
It was hardly the first time. After insisting his international trade tariffs were “here to stay” and would “never change,“ Trump also caved around this time a month ago in response to unsettling developments in the bond market.
Two weeks later, The New York Times published a report with a memorable opening: “After weeks of bluster and escalation, President Trump blinked. Then he blinked again. And again.”
As a substantive matter, there’s an obvious problem when observers — everyone from trading partners to business leaders to foreign officials — don’t know what to expect from an erratic and amateurish president who routinely folds under pressure.
But as a political matter, there are also consequences when an American president earns a reputation for weakness.
A Politico report published over the weekend summarized: President Donald Trump campaigned as a leader who would “never give in,” “never give up,” “never back down,” not to mention one who promised to “NEVER QUIT,” “NEVER BEND,” “NEVER BREAK,” and “NEVER YIELD.” And yet in recent days, Trump and his administration officials have done nearly all of those things on any number of issues, foreign and domestic.
This was published before Trump caved on Chinese trade tariffs. Last month, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, in reference to trade tariffs, “President Trump has a spine of steel, and he will not break.” Literally the next day, Trump folded — before caving again in the days and weeks that follow. For all of the Republican’s chest-thumping and tough-guy bravado, the president’s weakness is increasingly undeniable.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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