Juncker's assessment is a little different than Trump's

Quelle suprise.








Ever heard of European greeting customs?  Or, maybe, a Judas kiss?

When asked on his flight from Brussels whether he was ready, after having pored through piles of documents stacked in blue folders, the European Commission president [Jean-Claude Juncker] smiled and said: “No. We’ll have to see how it goes.”

[...]

What followed between the two leaders ushered in a potentially significant de-escalation of trade tensions between the U.S. and EU, after months in which the Trump administration had applied tariffs on European steel, and threatened more. The resulting agreement was vague, but the two sides agreed to pursue a range of possibilities—including increased U.S. exports of natural gas and soybeans—that might address the trans-Atlantic trade imbalance.

[...]

[Trump] was “charming, well-briefed” and “made an effort” to reach a deal with his European counterpart, the senior EU official said.

  WSJ

What? Not belligerent, late to the meeting, caustic? Did they drug him first?

Mr. Juncker grabbed the opportunity to argue that both sides need to refrain from further punitive tariffs or they would foolishly harm themselves.

“If you want to be stupid,” he told Mr. Trump, “I can be stupid, as well.”

Oh, snap.

Backing up his points, Mr. Juncker flipped through more than a dozen colorful cue cards with simplified explainers, the senior EU official said. Each card had at most three figures about a specific topic, such as trade in cars or standards for medical devices.

LOL. They did their homework.

“We knew this wasn’t an academic seminar,” the EU official said. “It had to be very simple.”

Oh, snap.

[Chief economic adviser Larry] Kudlow had met with Mr. Juncker’s team the previous evening and hinted at a possible deal.

Still, when EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström met with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Wednesday morning, odds of an agreement looked remote. Mr. Lighthizer seemed unaware of the overture made by Mr. Kudlow the night before and insisted on issues that were a no-go for the Europeans, such as opening the entire agricultural sector to U.S. firms, the EU official said.

Nobody knows shit about anybody else in this administration. It's a semi hauling a load of farm chickens jack-knifed in an interstate median.

Mr. Juncker told Mr. Trump and Mr. Lighthizer that any talk of including agriculture would kill prospects of a deal.

[...]

Mr. Juncker said he trusts Mr. Trump to stick to the elements of the agreement. “We have a good personal relation,” he said.

Juncker should talk to Michael Cohen about that.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDUPDATE:

In case you'd like to read an assessment of the nothingburger agreement, click here.

Trumpism

Pit citizens one against the other.

President Donald Trump’s top trade official took heat from Republican and Democratic lawmakers after he said the administration is not currently considering providing federal aid to small businesses, manufacturers or any sector of the economy, aside from farmers, that might be hurt by the trade war.

  Politico

So....why farmers? Could it be that the ag lobby is a big GOP donor?

Many lawmakers, including those in politically crucial Midwestern states, have criticized the unpredictable nature of the administration's approach to trade and remedies being provided to those hurt by retaliation. Trump is traveling to Iowa and southern Illinois on Thursday in an effort to shore up his base there.

[...]

[Trade Representative Robert] Lighthizer defended the administration's position by noting that "a lot of people across the economy" are being hurt by "predatory practices" that have become "status quo."

"It is the view of the administration that agriculture has been particularly targeted by retaliations as a result of the kinds of actions we're doing to try to level the playing field," he said. "And therefore, the president, the secretary of Agriculture put in place this program."

What about the aluminum tariff retaliation? What about bourbon?!?

"I don't think it's a stupid fight," Lighthizer said in response, raising his voice for the first time during the hearing to add that he doesn't "know a single person" who has read his agency’s report on the issue and disagrees with the response.

Probably not. But I bet he'll be hearing disagreement from some people he doesn't know very soon.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Of course he did, Jesus Christ

They all do.



...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Commerce secretary Wilbur Ross out of favor

Axios reported that about six months into Trump's time in office, he went after Ross in several meetings.

During the meetings, the president told Ross he doesn't have a good understanding of trade, according to the news outlet.

“These trade deals, they’re terrible,” Trump said, a source who was in the room for one of the meetings told Axios. “Your understanding of trade is terrible. Your deals are no good. No good.”

  The Hill

Trump originally treated the former banker like a trophy in his cabinet, boasting of Ross’s stature on Wall Street to others. But then Ross didn’t perform up to Trump’s expectations in trade negotiations with China, and so the president dressed down Ross in Oval Office meetings and told the longtime investor that his “understanding of trade is terrible.” As a result, trade representative Robert Lighthizer is now the Trump administration’s lead negotiator on such matters.

“Wilbur has lost his step,” the 71-year-old Trump reportedly said to someone at some point last year. “Actually, he’s probably lost a lot of steps.”

  NY Magazine

So, he stays, but just doesn't do anything? Like Trump, I guess.

Ross reportedly has trouble staying awake during meetings, too, with a former administration official telling Axios that the 80-year-old is only “good until about 11 a.m.” That hasn’t gone over well, since showing signs of age would never be acceptable in this administration.

The commerce secretary also annoyed Trump by hyperbolically boasting about a deal he’d made to open the Chinese market to American beef, since bragging about deals would never be acceptable in this administration, either.

Well, by anyone other than Trump.

“Wilbur’s been sucking up for months, trying to get back in the president’s good graces,” a Trump-orbit source added, but that hasn’t repaired the damage.

Ross also lost the trust of Forbes last year after they decided he had been exaggerating his wealth.

Like Trump.

They removed him from their list of billionaires after the federal financial-disclosure forms Ross gave to the government last year indicated he had less than $700 million in assets.

For shame! Not even one billion. Probably the only cabinet member in that category.

In November, it also emerged that Ross had failed to disclose ties to businesses connected to Russian president Vladimir Putin during his Senate confirmation hearings, but the report doesn’t make any mention of anyone in the White House caring about that.

Maybe that's how he gets to stay in his job. And sleep.

At least if he's sidelined he can't say stupid things to the press.

Unlike Trump.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.