I was torn between the title I’ve used for this post and “Too soon ve get old; too late ve get shmart”. In his latest column in the Washington Post Fareed Zakaria is astonished to find that Donald Trump’s superpower is marketing not deal-making:
It is nearly 500 days into the Trump administration. Where are the deals? Where is the renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement , the bilateral trade agreements that were going to replace the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the new and improved Iran nuclear pact, the China trade deal? Trump’s record in working with Congress is even less impressive. He has not been able to strike an accord with Democrats on anything, from immigration to infrastructure.
[…]
As talks fail, deals collapse and negotiations founder, Trump continues to tweet triumphantly about his great success. It makes one realize the president’s true talent. He has the confidence, bravado and skill to market failure as success. He can take a mediocre building, slap some gold paint on it and then convince people it’s a super-luxury condominium. Call it the Art of the Spin.
I think that Mr. Zakaria should be cautious lest his hatred of Trump blind him to the actual results from Trump’s blustering and peripatetic approach to diplomacy. It’s actually worked out pretty well for him so far.
