Going into 2020, the self-proclaimed master dealmaker is arguing to voters that he is holding out for bigger and better deals.
NEW DELHI, India — President Donald Trump will close out his 36-hour trip to India Tuesday without striking a long-coveted trade deal to ease tariffs — but that won’t stop him from selling it as a victory.
The self-proclaimed master dealmaker is arguing that he is holding out for a bigger and better deal.
“I can’t lose this, I can’t lose it,” Trump boasted Tuesday during a press conference before leaving India, indicating a deal could now come toward the end of the year. “You know what, I’ll never lose it. it’s too easy.”
Trump said during the trip that his team was in “the early stages of discussion for an incredible trade agreement,” even though his staff had been working on a deal for more than a year and had indicated just days before the visit that it would be cinched while in India. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed through a translator that the two sides wanted to try for a “bigger deal.”
It’s a pitch that Trump will soon be making to voters, some of whom have been hurt by rising prices after three years of trade disputes with countries across the globe: Even though there may not be a deal yet, something great is on the horizon.
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The pattern has played out in several trade wars Trump has launched during his time in office. The president ratchets up pressure, then either strikes a minor deal or argues he must hold out for a better one. It happened most recently with China. After slapping tariffs on the country and calling them an “enemy,” Trump struck a phase-one deal that unwound a portion of the tariffs while leaving other major issues unresolved. Trump has also hailed trade deals with Mexico, Canada, Japan and South Korea.
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President Donald Trump will close out his 36-hour trip to India Tuesday without striking a long-coveted trade deal to ease tariffs — but that won’t stop him from selling it as a victory https://t.co/H83pgXGn5b
— POLITICO (@politico) February 25, 2020
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