A year into President Trump’s second term, his threats, retreats, twists and turns appear to be wearing on allies and adversaries.
President Trump, who considers himself a master deal maker, has never made any secret of his belief that the secret to winning at negotiation is to keep the other side off balance.
But a year into his second term, his act is starting to wear on both allies and adversaries, some of whom are starting to view him as so mercurial and unreliable that they appear willing to consider waiting him out or turning away from him rather than enduring the abrupt starts, stops and humiliations that can accompany engaging with him.
In foreign policy, tariffs, immigration and his pressure campaign on universities, Mr. Trump’s threats, retreats, twists and turns have left negotiating partners feeling at times that they are being used to score political points and that there is little purpose to engaging on substance when his moods and demands can shift in an instant.
“What Trump is identifying as unpredictability is actually anxiety about his electoral prospects,” said Timothy L. O’Brien, a biographer of Mr. Trump.
The style of someone who never got a well deserved slap
I mean, you can’t deny that there is logic in calling dementia “unpredictable style”
“Unpredictable style” is code word for “I’m a fucking moron and have no idea what I’m doing I just used bigotry to get where I am”.
NYT is such trash.
Still whitewashing the rambling senile narcism of a failed businessman leading a fascist regime as a planned “strategy” with “a cost”.
Gaslighting is not journalism and neither is this.
BOOOOOOORRRRRING
I used to think my “unpredictable” poker style made me good at the game, but then I actually learned how to play, and never thought that again. Being bad at something doesn’t make you good at it, Donnie.
Master deal maker my a#%. He flip flops more than flip flops and has no idea how to make a deal. Ukraine. Tariffs.
🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮
Well yeah who couldn’t think unpredictability is long term a huge problem, especially when it comes to “deal making” above all things. IE you start with the “we’ll give him what he asks for or he might attack us”, but 1. that encourages everyone to eventually co-operate to get the bully in check… also it wears thinner when you don’t respect deals you’ve already made. Your unpredictable enough and “give me $1 or I nuke your country”, simple request, but if your unpredictability is high enough… they’ve got no reason to think you won’t nuke them even if you give the dollar… hell actually more reason to think possibly the opposite, maybe your possesion of the dollar is the only reason he hasn’t nuked you already.
All of our sanity?
His electoral prospects? He has none. He can’t be reelected. As for fearing the consequences of his actions, that’s kinda the point of working with your opponents instead of attacking them. Treat them like the enemy and you’ll be the enemy when they’re in power. It’s too bad he’s too stupid to figure that out.
