Can’t you just hear Ronald Reagan saying, “There he goes again.” This time, in response to Trump imposing tariffs on Canada and then threatening more tariffs when Canada takes retaliatory actions. But then, when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. All Trump knows how to do is hit, then hit harder. He never seeks a creative solution. He doesn’t negotiate. He dictates. He brings nothing to the table that the other side is willing to trade for.
And with Iran, it’s sanctions. Can anyone remember when unilateral sanctions achieved a desired result? Even multinational sanctions struggle to do that. Most of us learn from our mistakes, but since Trump never recognizes his mistakes, he never learns, and we suffer. This situation won’t improve until he’s out of office. Aesop’s fable about the north wind blowing fiercely to try to get a man to remove his coat is an apt metaphor for Trump’s approach to international relations.
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Robert Rietschel
Green Valley
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
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