Trump's only chance to get NK to at least pause its nuclear weapons program was intense economic pressure on North Korea-- primarily through China. But Xi needs some incentives to do this. The worst thing we could have done was try to bully and intimidate China into helping us because it would hurt Xi polotically in China with the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. First, China needs to be sure Trump will provide some incentives for North Korea and China to arrive at a solution. Second, all of Trump's talk of trade sanctions against China are pure bluff and will not lead to Chinese help-- we could never afford that let alone try to stop imports from China's trading partners. Even Mexico sees through Trump's trade bluffs-- the largest US businesses-- including US auto manufacturers need trade with Mexico. US military leaders have said for years that there is no good military solution-- Bannon said this just before he left. And "Trump's Generals" agree except when they bluff.

Labels: moderation: safe