Stephen Colbert goes back after ‘Tariff Man’ President Trump
By Matt Moore
After the president gave himself a new nickname, Stephen Colbert questioned just how much Donald Trump knows about negotiations.
The presidency of the United States is a tough gig. One person is responsible for a lot of decisions that are either celebrated or second-guessed especially when it comes to the economy. President Donald Trump has been quick to seek the credit for any and all economic gains since his election. So would he accept the same responsibility when things to the other way?
The president was probably excited to see the Dow go up following his tweet that China had agreed to “reduce and remove” tariffs on U.S. cars going into China. Another positive in the economy he was responsible for, right? Only there was the slight problem that nobody had agreed to that deal.
Confusion ensued that ultimately led to stock markets trending down when the president threatened China with tariffs. Trump’s normal strategy of saying something in the hopes it becomes true or to get instant approval once again backfired. Per usual, Stephen Colbert and The Late Show were able to explain it all in their typical fashion:
Trump’s plan of announcing his preferred results of a negotiation before the negotiations actually begin doesn’t sound like the best tactics. You’d expect better from the author of The Art of the Deal. The president has made a point to say that he wouldn’t discuss military strategies in public to keep enemies from knowing his plan. But apparently that isn’t how he goes about trade talks with China.
It was only a couple months ago that Stephen Colbert called out President Trump’s policies on tariffs. In October, Trump said that he didn’t use tariffs and the U.S. did not have them.
Colbert even went so far as to call the president “The Tariff Guy,” so maybe we have another example of Trump stealing Colbert’s material.
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We’ll have to check back in after the 90 days are up to see if Trump’s master negotiation tactics were successful. If they are, then his Twitter account will surely have the annoucenment as soon as possible. If not and the U.S. economy suffers a setback, get ready for the Tariff Man to pass the blame.