TRUMP'S THREATS AND TRADE POLICY -- From Queens to the White House.

From a forthcoming journal article of mine …………….

Donald Trump’s methods of operating and conducting national security or foreign policy are exactly the same as they would be if he was engaged in real estate transactions and deals. To Donald Trump, trade policy, foreign policy, and national security policy are transactions and zero-sum games. He makes decisions with only a few people around him, including his family members, using threats and litigation to get his way.

President Trump’s ruthless approach has been employed in a range of multilateral trade relations and bilateral agreements (such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement), and bilateral agreements with Korea and Japan). It has also gone beyond bilateral trade disputes by attacking the legitimacy of the WTO’s judicial system and, indeed, the WTO itself. Beyond trade, this caustic approach has been applied to a range of issues in American foreign policy. For example, the withdrawal by the United States from a broad list of international agreements and institutions, including the Iran nuclear deal, UNESCO, and the Paris Climate Accord.

The Trump administration has been employing tariffs and economic sanctions more vigorously than any other administration as the principal tools of its foreign policy. You might even call Trump’s stance in this regard “foreign policy by tariff threats.”

Trump’s disregard for international laws, institutions, alliances, and agreements is extremely worrisome. He possesses a truly generalized hatred for all rules that is mirrored in many ways, his management of the Trump Organization and his career as a real estate professional.

President Trump’s story has yet to play out on either the national or the international stage. His impeachment is already history. The 2020 presidential election is looming.