Donald Trump reveals he can’t negotiate his way out of a paper bag
“President” Donald Trump is the best deal maker and builder. We know this not from any evidence of such prowess but from the horse’s mouth. Just ask him. Well, never mind, he has tweeted about that just this morning: “Don’t forget, we are building and renovating big sections of Wall right now. Moving quickly, and will cost far less than previous politicians thought possible. Building, after all, is what I do best, even when money is not readily available!”
No idea what he’s referring to when he says he is the best even when no money is available. Maybe those friendly Russians who have lent him so much over the years are how he is so incredible. But on another level, his continued tweets about turning away caravans and work already being done on the wall show how unartful Trump the dealmaker is.
On Saturday, he touted how great a job he did turning the last two caravans away, tweeting: “Mexico is doing NOTHING to stop the Caravan which is now fully formed and heading to the United States. We stopped the last two – many are still in Mexico but can’t get through our Wall, but it takes a lot of Border Agents if there is no Wall. Not easy!” His statement about Mexico doing nothing is likely not true, given the reports that were being made in October of last year about efforts by the Mexican government to address the caravan and control any violence or issues.
If the wall is being built and renovated, and the wall and border worked to stop the previous caravans, that suggests that the funding already appropriated for border security is sufficient for the time being. One thing is certain when building anything, and surely Trump knows this- you do not obtain all of the financing to build the entire project up front. There is an original loan, some bridge loans, and you get funded based on progress reports and invoices.
Finally, his negotiation style is “winning” if you mean not winning. Here is what he tweeted about his proposal: “No, Amnesty is not a part of my offer. It is a 3 year extension of DACA. Amnesty will be used only on a much bigger deal, whether on immigration or something else. Likewise there will be no big push to remove the 11,000,000 plus people who are here illegally-but be careful Nancy!” So not even giving back what he took away is not an artful approach – it is a DOA negotiation style.
Daniel is a lawyer writing and teaching about SCOTUS, and is the author of the book “The Chief Justices” about the SCOTUS as seen through the center seat.