Putin and Xi Will Outmaneuver Trump with His Own 'Deal Strategy', Says Ex-Pentagon Official
Date: 2025-04-09 Author: Кирило Загоруйко Categories: WORLD
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are using US President Donald Trump's own "deal strategy" against him, writes political scientist and former director of China affairs for the US Secretary of Defense from 2005 to 2006 Joseph Bosco in a column for The Hill.
Trump justifies aggressive tariff policies by accusing US economic partners and allies of greed and exploitation.
"Frankly, a friend is often much worse than an enemy," he said, proclaiming "Liberation Day" last week. Trump has previously even claimed that "the European Union was created to screw the US."
Trump, however, does not blame foreign governments for the huge trade deficit, but places the blame on "stupid" and "pathetically weak" predecessors, mostly Democrats, but also Republicans, who he says are not up to the job. They, he believes, allowed skilled foreign negotiators to gain an advantage.
In his 1987 book The Art of the Deal, co-authored with Tony Schwartz, Trump describes his own negotiating tactic of taking radical opening positions to then negotiate a slightly better deal, creating the illusion of a concession.
Trump views allies as consumers of American resources, including in the security sphere. His vice president, J.D. Vance, underscored this attitude in a Signal leak, writing, "I just hate having to bail out Europe again."
However, Trump's negotiating style changes dramatically when it comes to America's adversaries. During his first term, he called Xi Jinping his friend and, even after the pandemic that has seriously undermined the American economy, he insisted that he trusted the Chinese leader.
