New York Times (November 7)
“Having peered into the abyss of autocratic nationalism, the American people have chosen to step back from the brink. The ballot counting will continue for a few days yet, but… Joe Biden will have the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House, and likely many more. President Trump’s four-year assault on our democratic institutions and values will soon end.”
Tags: Abyss, Assault, Ballot counting, Biden, Democratic institutions, Electoral votes, Nationalism, Trump, U.S. Autocratic, Values, White House
Washington Post (August 11)
“If the economy is in a rut, the party in power usually tries to maximize the power of incumbency to improve conditions before an election,” but these are strange times. “This White House and the current Senate Republican majority… are doing everything in their power to minimize or even prevent a stimulus deal.” Perhaps “Trump still does not understand he has wrecked the economy.” Come November, it looks like “he and a whole lot of Republicans are going to join the list of the unemployed.”
Tags: Economy, Election, Incumbency, Majority, Power, Prevent, Republican, Rut, Senate, Stimulus deal, White House, Wrecked
Wall Street Journal (October 8)
Trump is deserting the Kurds who helped defeat ISIS. “On Sunday, the White House announced that American forces will cede the area to Turkish troops. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is now free to wage war on Syria’s Kurds, who were America’s most important allies against ISIS.” The retreat from Syria “will also signal to U.S. allies that the White House can’t be trusted.”
Wall Street Journal (May 8)
“The new hard line taken by China in trade talks—surprising the White House and threatening to derail negotiations—came after Beijing interpreted recent statements and actions by President Trump as a sign the U.S. was ready to make concessions.” A resolution to the vexing trade dispute may no longer be near at hand. “A week ago, the assumption was that negotiators would be closing the deal. Now, they are trying to keep it from collapsing.”
Tags: China, Collapsing, Concessions, Derail, Hard line, Negotiations, Trade talks, Trump, U.S., White House
Washington Examiner (September 4)
Bob Woodward’s new book, Fear, “alleges the president is basically losing his mind, and that top White House officials constantly work behind his back to curtail his worst impulses, including the time he supposedly instructed Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. to plan a pre-emptive strike on North Korea.” And the official White House response is perhaps even “more disconcerting than Woodward’s reporting.” In attempting to distract from the allegations, the Trump administration makes the book’s allegations more believable.
Tags: Allegations, Disconcerting, Distract, Dunford, Fear, Impulses, North Korea, Officials, Pre-emptive strike, Response, Trump, White House, Woodward
Forbes (June 24)
“While Trump and some in the White House argue that China has much more to lose in a trade war than does the United States, they may be underestimating Xi’s resolve to appear unwavering in the face of attacks from China’s main economic rival, the United States.”
Tags: China, Lose, Resolve, Rival, Trade war, Trump, U.S., Underestimating, Unwavering, White House, Xi
Washington Post (May 22)
“The Trump administration is supposed to be negotiating with China. But right now it more often seems to be negotiating with itself. China knows what it wants out of these bilateral negotiations; the White House plainly does not…. In short: Over here on Team USA, it’s been amateur hour.”
Tags: Administration, Amateur hour, Bilateral, China, Negotiating, Trump, White House
The Economist (May 19)
Unless European “companies or their governments take the fight all the way to the White House, they have little choice but to abide by the long—and sometimes wrong—arm of American law.” America’s threat of sanctions on companies doing business with Iran impacts major players including Total, Airbus, Peugeot, Renault and SWIFT. Still, it remains to be seen if “there is the stomach for such a battle.”
Tags: Airbus, European, Fight, Governments, Iran, Law, Peugeot, Renault, Sanctions, Swift, Threat, Total, White House
Reuters (March 16)
“Simmering fears of a global trade war. An embarrassing political scandal in Japan. Rapid job-turnover inside the White House and the threat of faster interest rate hikes in the United States….” Yet somehow “markets have brushed aside risks and recurring bad news on geopolitics to stay focused on positive macro-economic cues.”
Tags: Embarrassing, Fears, Geopolitics, Interest rate hikes, Japan, Markets, Scandal, Simmering, Threats, Trade war, U.S., White House
Wall Street Journal (March 17)
“‘Clearly the president was wrong’” with his accusation accusing former president Barak Obama of tapping his phone. While the White House press secretary stubbornly defends Trump’s accusation, “Mr. Trump would be wiser to say he fired the tweet in anger and walk it back. An apology can be good for the soul—and a Presidency.”
Tags: Accusation, Anger, Apology, Obama, Phone, President, Tap, U.S., White House
