Trump's Approach Opposite That of Teddy Roosevelt's

Theodore Roosevelt, generally regarded as one of the most successful presidents in our history...even to the point that his image is on Mount Rushmore alongside Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson...had a famous quote: "Speak loudly and insultingly and carry a small, bending twig".  Wait...that wasn't it: he said "Speak softly and carry a big stick".  Donald Trump, our current president, who doubtless would tell you that he considers himself  to be the greatest president of all time...past, present, or future...actually practices the first quote. He's loud and insulting to just about everyone who disagrees with him, with the consistent exception of Russia and China's autocratic leaders Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.  He once referred to North Korea's repugnant and murderous dictator Kim Jong Un as "little rocket man", but now is honoring him with a high-level summit in Singapore.  Meanwhile, he and his staff are on a trashing campaign against our Western allies and their leaders over trade.  The problem is, when you get down to the substance of the matter, our president has a point: he just obscures it with his rhetoric, designed to appeal to his base of around 35% of the voting electorate.  And with that problem comes another: the leaders he is insulting are also freely elected in democratic elections, and their infuriated and offended electorate put them in a position now in which they will never negotiate with him, much less concede on matters of our interest.  How foolish...an autocratic or totalitarian ruler like Kim can brush off Trump's taunts because he is unaccountable to his people, but Canadians, Germans, and others are in a position to make sure Trump gets NOTHING from them...

Now to the actual issue involved here: even though the generally accepted idea is that we live in a world of free trade, in truth the various countries we do business with...both our allies and adversaries...have become accustomed to imposing higher import tariff rates on various commodities than those we impose on them, with our trade representatives signing off on these inequities...hardly free trade.  Also, some countries like China have a reputation for stealing our patented innovations and capitalizing on them without due compensation.  A truly great leader...which Trump erroneously sees himself as...would calmly lay out the facts of the inequities of our international trading relationships while being as universally complimentary in general terms of these other nations and their leaders.  Instead, the reverse is going on as an ugly trade war seems inevitable...