Trump is so obsessed with winning that he might make America lose
It is perhaps  his  most essential quality:  President Trump  is determined to triumph — and to see America triumph alongside  him . “I win against China. You can win against China if you’re smart ”  he  said at a campaign event in July 2015. “Vast numbers of manufacturing jobs in Pennsylvania have moved to Mexico and other countries. That will end when I win!”  he  tweeted during the campaign. “China  Japan  Mexico  Brazil  these countries are all taking our jobs  like we’re a bunch of babies. That will stop ”  he  once promised.
In Trump’s view of the world  there is a finite amount of everything — money  security  jobs  victories — and nothing can be shared.  He  previewed this week’s imposition of steel tariffs when  he  said during the campaign that foreign smelters are “killing our steelworkers and steel companies.”  He  promised during  his  State of the Union address to protect “our” citizens over the undocumented “dreamers.” In other words  the United States  and all of its inhabitants  are in a zero-sum competition over everything  all the time. And you’re either victorious or defeated. It’s a universe where the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must  as Thucydides said.
The problem is that the triumphs that  Trump  craves — strength  safety  prosperity — cannot be achieved alone. They require friends and allies  and they require the president to see those people as partners  not competitors. But  Trump  doesn’t know how to do that  which makes everyone suspicious; other governments don’t like to be punching bags  the only role  he  appears to envision for them. Mutual distrust imperils the collaboration the United States needs to succeed. Which is to say   Trump’s  determination to win could easily position the country to lose.
As the first person elected U.S. president without having served in government or the military  perhaps it’s unrealistic to expect  Trump  to have a carefully considered view of America’s role in the world. But a year into his presidency  it’s clear that his core beliefs come from the business world  where the focus is on the bottom line. In real estate  relationships often take the form of one-off transactions: You can cheat people you’ll never do business with again. A dollar off the price is a dollar you keep  and  Trump  has no doubt made a lot of dollars that way.
President Trump on March 1 announced tariffs on steel and aluminum. “Without steel and aluminum  your country is not the same ”  Trump  said. (The Washington Post)
As president   he  seems to have a similar view — that U.S. interests rise only at the expense of others. Winners have trade surpluses  and losers have trade deficits. Jobs move from losing countries to winning countries. The United States is the biggest economy with the biggest military  and therefore the United States has leverage to get the best deals. If we don’t emerge from negotiation with a clear advantage  that’s because our negotiator was a soft-headed  do-gooder globalist who didn’t put America first. NAFTA  for instance  was Bill Clinton’s agreement (even though it began under George H.W. Bush). And “Iran was on its last legs . . . until the U.S. came along and gave it a life-line in the form of the Iran Deal ”  Trump  tweeted a year ago. The world is a tough place filled with tough people who watch you every second for a chance to take advantage   he  believes — and the American president is elected to care about Pittsburgh  not Paris.
Washington has the most leverage when it deals with countries one on one  which is why   he  says  “we need bilateral trade deals ” not “another international agreement that ties us up and binds us down.” To abide by the same rules as less-powerful countries would be to sublimate American interests to those of lesser nations.
The world’s wealth is like a pie  and it’s the president’s responsibility to ensure that the strongest country gets the biggest piece.  Trump  seeks to begin negotiations with a threat that forces the other side to defend  its  smaller piece.  He  pledges to tear up NAFTA  rip up the Iran nuclear deal and revisit America’s relationship with NATO — unless  he  gets concessions. And  he  gains advantage not by telling the truth  but by saying things  he  believes will boost  his  bargaining power and sell  his  vision: China has been allowed to “rape our country.” Mexico is deliberately exporting criminals into the United States  but the wall will bring that to a stop. U.S. allies are laughing at American taxpayers.
Trump casts alliances as partnerships that burden strong nations with free-riding  freeloading “allies ” such as NATO members that don’t spend enough on defense  and the governments of Japan and South Korea  which expect the United States to protect them from China. This is where critics who say he’s an isolationist go awry. The man who launched missiles at Syria to punish its violations of a chemical weapons treaty is not opposed to intervention in other countries. He’s just an alliance-hating unilateralist.
The zero-sum cosmology touches everything. Obamacare supposedly sticks us with the bill for people who should pay for their own insurance — or a find a job that provides it.  Trump  even told The Washington Post’s Michael Kranish and Marc Fisher  authors of the biography “ Trump  Revealed ” that  he  doesn’t exercise  because “the human body was like a battery  with a finite amount of energy  which exercise only depleted.”
There are kernels of truth that undergird Trump’s view. It’s a disgrace that the United States is one of just five of NATO’s 29 members to spend 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense  as required by the alliance’s rules. “America First” is a sensible response to his predecessors  who sometimes behaved as if America was becoming stronger in the world; it is not  and our policy should reflect that. China is more a strategic competitor than a real partner linked by shared values. Trade does produce winners and losers  as falling barriers allow companies to move jobs to places where wages are lower. A study published by the Pew Research Center in December 2015 found that “after more than four decades of serving as the nation’s economic majority  the American middle class is now matched in number by those in the economic tiers above and below it.” That’s a real problem  and  Trump  is right to point it out.
But  his  belief that winners win and losers lose has led  him  toward many unforced errors.  He  could have demanded that NATO members pay more without signaling that  he  might abandon the mutual-defense agreement that undergirds a treaty to contain Russia. “America First” makes sense only if Americans are willing to lead by example  showing the world that democracy is best by moving beyond petty partisanship to build the compromises on which progress depends. Other nations might be more wowed by “America First” if it invested more money in education  rebuilt infrastructure and focused exports on technology  energy and food. People elsewhere must believe that America is too important to fail.
Relations among nations are not like real estate deals. The president has to negotiate with the same people again the next month  and they’ll remember how they’ve been treated. Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu never forgave President Barack Obama for openly criticizing his approach to settlement-building; imagine how every other leader feels about being constantly humiliated by  Trump . Other countries form judgments about whether American promises are credible and whether they can trust the president.  Trump  says  he ’s willing to talk with North Korea about its nuclear program  but surely Kim Jong Un is watching as  Trump  threatens to shred the Iran nuclear agreement. Why not just deal with other countries? There are many options.
The biggest is China. The Chinese are writing checks. They’re investing in other nations and making deals that serve China’s interests. Its economy is just two-thirds the size of ours  but its government is working to create economic links — and political dependence — across the world  even as  Trump  says we need to focus our attention domestically. The Belt and Road Initiative  China’s plan to blaze new commercial trails and cement new political ties via infrastructure investment in dozens of countries  is seven times larger than the Marshall Plan when adjusted for inflation. More than 120 nations already trade more with China than with the United States. And they’re not just developing countries. China is investing in smaller European Union members like Hungary and Greece to alter official E.U. attitudes toward Beijing. That’s why the Trans-Pacific Partnership  which  Trump  quashed  was more than just a trade deal. By joining   Trump  could have expanded U.S. ties with many of China’s neighbors  governments that fear overreliance on China’s goodwill for future growth.
 Trump’s  win-or-lose philosophy is most confused when it comes to immigration. Foreigners who want to become Americans are not charity cases. They participate in the labor force at higher rates (73.4 percent  according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics) than native-born Americans. A higher percentage of immigrants than native-born Americans own small businesses . That’s reality  not soft-headed sentiment  and  Trump ’s tendency to hire foreign guest workers over Americans at his own properties suggests that he understands something about how hard they work.
Immigrants boost growth and strengthen the social safety net. They bring the drive and energy  Trump  often cites when talking about  himself ; they’ve already taken bold action and faced down risks to reimagine their futures. They pay their way. The undocumented contribute $13 billion to the nation’s retirement fund each year and get just $1 billion in return. Immigrants are also innovative: “More than three out of every four patents at the top 10 patent-producing US universities (76%) had at least one foreign-born inventor ” according to a 2012 study.
It is perhaps  his  most essential quality:  [TGT]is determined to triumph — and to see America triumph alongside  [TGT] . “I win against China. You can win against China if you’re smart ”  [TGT]  said at a campaign event in July 2015. “Vast numbers of manufacturing jobs in Pennsylvania have moved to Mexico and other countries. That will end when I win!”  [TGT]  tweeted during the campaign. “China  Japan  Mexico  Brazil  these countries are all taking our jobs  like we’re a bunch of babies. That will stop ”  he  once promised.
In Trump’s view of the world  there is a finite amount of everything — money  security  jobs  victories — and nothing can be shared.  He  previewed this week’s imposition of steel tariffs when  he  said during the campaign that foreign smelters are “killing our steelworkers and steel companies.”  He  promised during  his  State of the Union address to protect “our” citizens over the undocumented “dreamers.” In other words  the United States  and all of its inhabitants  are in a zero-sum competition over everything  all the time. And you’re either victorious or defeated. It’s a universe where the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must  as Thucydides said.
The problem is that the triumphs that  Trump  craves — strength  safety  prosperity — cannot be achieved alone. They require friends and allies  and they require the president to see those people as partners  not competitors. But [TGT]doesn’t know how to do that  which makes everyone suspicious; other governments don’t like to be punching bags  the only role  [TGT]  appears to envision for them. Mutual distrust imperils the collaboration the United States needs to succeed. Which is to say   Trump’s  determination to win could easily position the country to lose.
As the first person elected U.S. president without having served in government or the military  perhaps it’s unrealistic to expect  [TGT]  to have a carefully considered view of America’s role in the world. But a year into his presidency  it’s clear that his core beliefs come from the business world  where the focus is on the bottom line. In real estate  relationships often take the form of one-off transactions: You can cheat people you’ll never do business with again. A dollar off the price is a dollar you keep  and  [TGT]has no doubt made a lot of dollars that way.
[TGT] on March 1 announced tariffs on steel and aluminum. “Without steel and aluminum  your country is not the same ”  [TGT]said. (The Washington Post)
As president   he  seems to have a similar view — that U.S. interests rise only at the expense of others. Winners have trade surpluses  and losers have trade deficits. Jobs move from losing countries to winning countries. The United States is the biggest economy with the biggest military  and therefore the United States has leverage to get the best deals. If we don’t emerge from negotiation with a clear advantage  that’s because our negotiator was a soft-headed  do-gooder globalist who didn’t put America first. NAFTA  for instance  was Bill Clinton’s agreement (even though it began under George H.W. Bush). And “Iran was on its last legs . . . until the U.S. came along and gave it a life-line in the form of the Iran Deal ”  [TGT]tweeted a year ago. The world is a tough place filled with tough people who watch you every second for a chance to take advantage   [TGT]  believes — and the American president is elected to care about Pittsburgh  not Paris.
Washington has the most leverage when it deals with countries one on one  which is why   [TGT]  says  “we need bilateral trade deals ” not “another international agreement that ties us up and binds us down.” To abide by the same rules as less-powerful countries would be to sublimate American interests to those of lesser nations.
The world’s wealth is like a pie  and it’s the president’s responsibility to ensure that the strongest country gets the biggest piece.  [TGT]seeks to begin negotiations with a threat that forces the other side to defend  [TGT]  smaller piece.  [TGT]  pledges to tear up NAFTA  rip up the Iran nuclear deal and revisit [TGT] relationship with NATO — unless  he  gets concessions. And  he  gains advantage not by telling the truth  but by saying things  he  believes will boost  his  bargaining power and sell  his  vision: China has been allowed to “rape our country.” Mexico is deliberately exporting criminals into the United States  but the wall will bring that to a stop. U.S. allies are laughing at American taxpayers.
[TGT] casts alliances as partnerships that burden strong nations with free-riding  freeloading “allies ” such as NATO members that don’t spend enough on defense  and the governments of Japan and South Korea  which expect the United States to protect them from China. This is where critics who say he’s an isolationist go awry. The man who launched missiles at Syria to punish its violations of a chemical weapons treaty is not opposed to intervention in other countries. He’s just an alliance-hating unilateralist.
The zero-sum cosmology touches everything. Obamacare supposedly sticks us with the bill for people who should pay for their own insurance — or a find a job that provides it.  [TGT]even told The Washington Post’s Michael Kranish and Marc Fisher  [TGT][TGT]  doesn’t exercise  because “the human body was like a battery  with a finite amount of energy  which exercise only depleted.”
There are kernels of truth that undergird Trump’s view. It’s a disgrace that the United States is one of just five of NATO’s 29 members to spend 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense  as required by the alliance’s rules. “America First” is a sensible response to his predecessors  who sometimes behaved as if America was becoming stronger in the world; it is not  and our policy should reflect that. China is more a strategic competitor than a real partner linked by shared values. Trade does produce winners and losers  as falling barriers allow companies to move jobs to places where wages are lower. A study published by the Pew Research Center in December 2015 found that “after more than four decades of serving as the nation’s economic majority  the American middle class is now matched in number by those in the economic tiers above and below it.” That’s a real problem  and  [TGT]is right to point it out.
But  [TGT]  belief that winners win and losers lose has led  [TGT]  toward many unforced errors.  [TGT]  could have demanded that NATO members pay more without signaling that  [TGT]  might abandon the mutual-defense agreement that undergirds a treaty to contain Russia. “America First” makes sense only if Americans are willing to lead by example  showing the world that democracy is best by moving beyond petty partisanship to build the compromises on which progress depends. Other nations might be more wowed by “America First” if it invested more money in education  rebuilt infrastructure and focused exports on technology  energy and food. People elsewhere must believe that America is too important to fail.
Relations among nations are not like real estate deals. The president has to negotiate with the same people again the next month  and they’ll remember how they’ve been treated. Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu never forgave President Barack Obama for openly criticizing his approach to settlement-building; imagine how every other leader feels about being constantly humiliated by [TGT] . Other countries form judgments about whether American promises are credible and whether they can trust the president.  [TGT]says  [TGT] ’s willing to talk with North Korea about its nuclear program  but surely Kim Jong Un is watching as  [TGT]threatens to shred the Iran nuclear agreement. Why not just deal with other countries? There are many options.
The biggest is China. The Chinese are writing checks. They’re investing in other nations and making deals that serve China’s interests. [TGT] economy is just two-thirds the size of ours  but [TGT] government is working to create economic links — and political dependence — across the world  even as  [TGT]says we need to focus our attention domestically. The Belt and Road Initiative  China’s plan to blaze new commercial trails and cement new political ties via infrastructure investment in dozens of countries  is seven times larger than the Marshall Plan when adjusted for inflation. More than 120 nations already trade more with China than with the United States. And they’re not just developing countries. China is investing in smaller European Union members like Hungary and Greece to alter official E.U. attitudes toward Beijing. That’s why the Trans-Pacific Partnership  which  [TGT]  quashed  was more than just a trade deal. By joining   [TGT]could have expanded U.S. ties with many of China’s neighbors  governments that fear overreliance on China’s goodwill for future growth.
 Trump’s  win-or-lose philosophy is most confused when it comes to immigration. Foreigners who want to become Americans are not charity cases. They participate in the labor force at higher rates (73.4 percent  according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics) than native-born Americans. A higher percentage of immigrants than native-born Americans own small businesses . [TGT] suggests that he understands something about how hard [TGT] work.
Immigrants boost growth and strengthen the social safety net. They bring the drive and energy  [TGT]  often cites when talking about  himself ; they’ve already taken bold action and faced down risks to reimagine their futures. They pay their way. The undocumented contribute $13 billion to the nation’s retirement fund each year and get just $1 billion in return. Immigrants are also innovative: “More than three out of every four patents at the top 10 patent-producing US universities (76%) had at least one foreign-born inventor ” according to a 2012 study.