President Donald Trump's "mercurial" and "unreliable" negotiation style is starting to wear on his allies, according to a new report.
Trump has consistently claimed that his unpredictability was one of his negotiation tactics that helped him get the upper hand. But The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Trump's allies and adversaries appear to be "waiting him out" or "turning away" as they wait for the president to calm down, rather than endure the "abrupt starts, stops, and humiliations that can accompany engaging with him."
The report cited instances such as Trump's threats to acquire Greenland and his trade negotiations with allies, such as Canada, as examples of Trump blustering and backing down.
As one Trump expert noted, these actions may be a sign that the president is feeling deeper anxiety about the upcoming midterm elections.
“What Trump is identifying as unpredictability is actually anxiety about his electoral prospects,” Timothy L. O’Brien, a biographer of Trump, told the outlet.
“He’s aware that he’s going into a possibly daunting midterm election and he’s throwing these Hail Mary passes in order to try to cultivate voters, to demonstrate that he’s in charge, to seek retribution from perceived enemies, but I don’t think it has anything to do with unpredictability in the service of great deal making,” he added.