...but what i actually think is that he fundamentally does not understand what the tpp actually is. i think he probably thinks that it's a trade deal with china. when his advisers sit him down and explain that it's a containment strategy of china - that is, that it is completely consistent with the anti-chinese strain in his foreign policy - i believe he'll prove obama right and come around to it.
i just can't comprehend how they're going to let him abandon east asia to china after seventy years. and, that's the truth of it: pulling out of the tpp is handing over the entire region to china. including japan and australia.
so, i remain convinced that he's still totally clueless - and, that the situation may be severe enough that his life may depend on cluing in.
if they're going to do it, they'll do it fast.
i mean, the guy campaigns on getting tough on china and then hands over trillions of dollars of gdp to them on day one?
you need to believe him on getting tougher on china. it just needs to be explained to him that the tpp is all about getting tougher on china...
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see, this is what's driving him.
"The TPP is a horrible deal, a deal that is going to lead to nothing but trouble. It’s a deal that was designed for China to come in, as they always do, through the back door, and totally take advantage of everyone." - donald trump
he believes that. somehow. still.
the truth is the exact opposite: it's a containment policy. which is exactly what he wants.
somebody will eventually set him straight. it will get signed.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2015/11/10/donald_trump_says_tpp_is_a_nefarious_plot_by_china.html?wpsrc=sh_all_mob_tw_top
i mean, don't get me wrong. i'm no fan of the agreement. i'd like to see it stopped. but, you don't hear trump talking about the isds mechanisms, and you don't see him talking about labour or environmental standards. he honestly thinks it's a trade deal with china. he just truly doesn't understand it. he's going to have to eventually understand it. and, when he does, he'll realize he supports it.
we've reached a level of total absurdity here, by the way. this is beyond the pale.
but, peeling away all the layers of obstruction and ignorance leaves us with a simple truth: donald trump wants less trade with china and more conflict with them. signing the tpp is the rational way to get less trade and more conflict with china. therefore, donald trump will sign the tpp. qed.
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this is exactly what trump has been broadcasting.
if he doesn't bend on this, he'll prove that he's being driven entirely by ego: that he cannot accept the premise that he might be mistaken and is willing to do any and every absurd thing imaginable to avoid admitting error.
one of his core messages was getting tough on china. and, that's a message that no doubt resonated with the establishment that put him in power.
he will either understand the agreement and sign it, or he will refuse to understand the agreement and tear it up out of spite. and, while i oppose the agreement, i think that such a reaction of narcissism over reason will send a message that should be taken with the utmost seriousness - that would be a broadcast to the world that he is unreachable.
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/10/07/china-tpp-trans-pacific-partnership-obama-us-trade-xi/