When it comes to making threats, Trump is all bluster, as evidenced by China calling "Trump's bluff" in his very own trade war, a new article in The Atlantic posits.
Author Jonathan Chait wrote that China's deft handling of the U.S. president offered a lesson "for everybody Trump threatens, whether countries or businesses or universities" — just ignore him and he'll eventually back down.
"When President Donald Trump launched his trade war on the world, he issued a stern warning: 'Do not retaliate and you will be rewarded,'" Chait wrote. "China ignored the warning. It was rewarded anyway. [Monday] morning, Trump largely suspended his trade war in return for nothing but promises of ongoing discussions."
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Chait called Trump's approach "dominance theater" straight out of his hit TV show, "The Apprentice."
"Trump is performing a character, the presidential version of the boss he played in The Apprentice, sitting in a plush leather chair doling out justice to quavering supplicants," Chait wrote.
In the end, "Trump held out for one month before backing down," Chait noted.
"The decades of China allegedly 'ripping off' the United States were apparently forgotten, along with China’s insolence in retaliating and the supposed need for the U.S. to reduce its reliance on Chinese imports. The administration isn’t even pretending that it forced China to pay any special price for its defiance. It is memory-holing the entire 'do not retaliate' episode and moving on as if the point this whole time was to get along better with Beijing."
Chait concluded that “'winning' with Trump is often impossible, because the relationship itself is lose-lose."
He described Trump as "a classic bully who craves submission and fears conflict. His fervent supporters want him to be Michael Corleone, but he’s more like Biff Tannen. Standing up to Trump does not mean that you win. But giving in guarantees that you lose."