President Trump: The NEW one and only politics thread

James Patterson is really going to enjoy this book tour.

Here's the the Morning Joe segment on the interview:

 

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/chris-w...with-brutal-trade-critique-from-larry-kudlow/

Chief Economic Advisor Larry Kudlow "hopes the trade war works out."

 

As opposed to Democrats who are rooting for China to win the trade war, and for the North Koreans to make us look bad.

Rooting for our enemies to own the Trumpers!

 

A column in Maclean's argued that instead of retaliatory tariffs, Canada, Japan and the EU should issue targeted sanctions agains the Trump Organization and specific Trump family members like Jared and Ivanka, as they would sanction a Russian oligarch. Could come to that, although it's a real hardball idea.

 

You read the link. Kudlow opposes the policy the WH is pursuing. You would think the Administration would want all oars in the water on this thing.

 

Translation: I am above the law.

 

Or, you could watch the actual segment, or read the full transcript.

Kudlow believes in free trade, and he supports the president's efforts.

WALLACE: Let me -- let's turn to tariffs on the president's decision this week to go ahead and impose tariffs on metal imports from some of our close allies, Canada, Mexico, the European Union. You dismissed it this week as, your words, a family quarrel. But Canada's prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said that it is a, quote, turning point in relations. And he went on to say this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: These tariffs are an affront to the long-standing security partnership between Canada and the United States, and in particular an affront to the thousands of Canadians who have fought and died alongside their American brothers in arms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: Sounds like a lot more than a family quarrel.

KUDLOW: I don't think our tariffs or anything to do with our friendship and our long-standing alliance with Canada.

WALLACE: But we're imposing the tariff because of national security reasons.

KUDLOW: That's correct.

WALLACE: And so that is --

KUDLOW: That is --

WALLACE: The implication is that somehow we can't trust Canada as a reliable national security partner when it comes to supplying steel and aluminum.

KUDLOW: Well -- well, I don't -- I don't think we're satisfied yet that they will protect or uphold all the shipments of steel coming into Canada from around the world. Could be China. Could be Brazil. Could be a lot of different places. The trans shipping effort is something that has been troubling to us.

Look, the president has declared our steel industry a national security matter and he hopes through these actions to rebuild it. There's some early signs that that may be possible. But, look, in the communique, in the announcement from the White House, it said very clearly that we still welcome good faith negotiations, and that's why I regard this as more of a family quarrel.

This is -- this is a trade dispute, if you will. It can be solved if people work together. But -- but, but, but, Chris, I must say this, this president, from day one, wants to reform the world trading system. It is not working. And there is so much unfair trading and illegal trading practices. There is virtually no reciprocity here. Tariff rates are not equal. Nontariff barriers are not equal. The World Trade Organization, which sets these rules, has been totally ineffectual. It has, in some cases, damaged the American economy, damaged American workers in manufacturing and other businesses. So the president's stepped up to the plate here. And as somebody who is a free trader, I've got to say, if you don't have a level playing field, you can't operate free trade.

WALLACE: But -- but you're making it sound like this is the beginning or the midway point in negotiations. In fact, it represents something of a breakdown.

Let me put the timeline up on the screen.

President Trump first threatened to impose these tariffs on March 1st. This week's action comes after more than a month of negotiation. The E.U. is now imposing tariffs on $3 billion of U.S. goods, Canada on $13 billion of U.S. imports. And, for all of the talk of protecting American jobs, the United Steelworkers Union opposes putting tariffs on Canada, saying that there metal exports to the U.S. are, quote, fairly traded. This isn't the beginning of a family squabble. The family has broken up and has gone into separate rooms.

KUDLOW: I know. Sometimes that happens. Sometimes families have disputes. Again, good faith negotiations were part of our announcements the other day.

Listen --

WALLACE: But -- you -- this comes at the end of the months of good faith.

KUDLOW: By the way, I just want to say, the American economy is booming right now.

WALLACE: We're going to get to that.

KUDLOW: That has to be part of the discussion here with respect to trade. And confidence is also booming. So that has to be part of the discussion.

Look, these matters can be solved. No one said they can't. Whether they will be, I don't know. But, again, the president's vision here, and it's very important, he's a trade reformer. And, at the end of the day, he would love to see free trade. But these barriers have to be swept away. Unfair trading practices, illegal trading practices, places like China, which are (INAUDIBLE) possible --

WALLACE: We send more steel to Canada than they send to us.

KUDLOW: Well, it's about -- look, it -- they buy our steel. We buy their steel. I agree with that, OK. But we're not satisfied yet that all the loopholes have been closed. And there are other issues with respect to Canadian-U.S. trade discussions. Other very difficult issues. The president himself has raised the issue of intellectual property and dairy and farming and agriculture, which is very important to our farm folks.

So it may be -- it may be worked out. These tariffs may go on for a while or they may not. I don't want many predictions today on the program. I'm just saying, let's talk it through. But to say that this is an attack on Canada is not right. But to say that we're going to protect the American industry --

WALLACE: I didn't say it was an attack on Canada. That was what Justin Trudeau, the prime minister, said.

KUDLOW: That's right. Well, that's -- and Mr. Trudeau, I think he's overreacting. I don't want to get in the middle of that. As a fine friend and ally of the United States, nobody denies that. But the point is, we have to protect ourselves.

WALLACE: OK. You --

KUDLOW: We must protect ourselves.

WALLACE: You say we need to protect ourselves.

KUDLOW: Yes.

WALLACE: You were a TV analyst when the idea of tariffs on Canada first came up. Here's what you said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KUDLOW: We're already hanging by a toenail on NAFTA. If we have to walk out with NAFTA or those negotiations totally breakdown, then this steel thing turns in from a minor irritants to a major calamity for our economy and our stock market.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: Mr. Kudlow, that's where we are now. The NAFTA talks have broken down. The steel tariffs are on. To quote Larry Kudlow from just a couple of months ago, a major calamity for our economy and our markets.

KUDLOW: Well, I hope it works out. Buy the buy --

WALLACE: Well, what do you mean you hope --

KUDLOW: The NAFTA --

WALLACE: That's pretty cavalier. You --

KUDLOW: The NAFTA talks haven't broken down. We're still having those conversations. And we're still having the steel talks with Canada. As I said, you know, take a look at the communique the White House put out, or the statement. Good faith negotiations are welcome and we hope to continue there. So I don't think things are broken down. I don't want to be cavalier about anything. These are very serious matters that could affect the economy. There's worries about that every place. So no, I don't want to deny that.

But I do want to say this. If you cannot abide by the rules -- see, that's the thing. In the world trade game, rule breaking is all over the place. That's why I think that the president is right. We have got to make reforms and we have to stand up for U.S. interests as we go along. This is always - - you know, don't -- don't blame Trump, blame China, blame Europe, blame NAFTA, blame those who don't want reciprocal trading, tariff rates and protectionism and the --

WALLACE: I -- I want to -- I want to get to --

KUDLOW: Trump -- Trump is responding to several decades of trade abuses here, really. I think that's --

 

The conversation moves on to the jobs report, but trade is a part of that discussion:

WALLACE: I want to get to something that I know you're going to want to talk about, which is the very solid jobs report on Friday.

KUDLOW: Yes.

WALLACE: I want to put it up. And 3.8 percent unemployment, the lowest rate since 1969, 3.6 percent for women, the lowest since 1953, 5.9 percent for black Americans.

One, how long can this last, and, two, sitting here, right now, can you honestly say that the possibility of trade disputes/trade war couldn't jeopardize that?

KUDLOW: Oh, it might. I don't deny that. You have to keep an eye on it. It's a very precious --

WALLACE: It could jeopardize that?

KUDLOW: It's possible, absolutely. I don't think it has right now.

You know, I think we're on the front end of what will turn out to be the best prosperity boom in several decades. The economy is clicking on all cylinders. As you noted, jobs and unemployment. Business investment is growing everywhere. Money is being repatriated. Trillions of dollars are coming back home to the USA.

This is all probably 3 percent growth. We're right on the cusp of the 3 percent growth. All our critics said we couldn't have. The Atlanta Fed and other private forecasters are now looking for 4 percent growth in the second quarter. I hope we get there. I would take another 3 percent growth.

I think the tax cuts and the rollback of regulations has created not only new incentives to grow, Chris, but also tremendous confidence, consumer surveys, business surveys, small business surveys.

WALLACE: OK.

KUDLOW: And I think trade --

WALLACE: I -- I want --

KUDLOW: Trade can dovetail into this in a very positive way if the president is able to change these trading practices and allow Americans to export freely around the world.

 

It's a good thing Donald Trump reformed how unemployment is calculated, so the numbers are no longer fake. Otherwise there'd still be 93 million people out of work!

 

The press is so desperate to show that Trump's own advisors don't agree with him.

It's a funny thing to want to show, when we've previously celebrated Lincoln's "Team of Rivals" and Obama's willingness to hire Hillary Clinton as his Secretary of State.

It's especially funny when one consistent line of criticism of Trump is that he surrounds himself with "yes men" who only tell him what he wants to hear.

Having aides who are willing to give you their honest opinions, even when they differ from yours, is a good thing for a president to have.

But, this desire to show that the president and his team aren't on the same page is causing the media to embarrass themselves. The whole Times' story that it was "impossible" to reschedule the NK summit on the originally scheduled date was #FakeNews and a result of this desire.

Mediate is garbage, of course, but they're trying to do the same thing with Trump and Kudlow. To the degree that Kudlow disagrees, theoretically, with Trump is irrelevant if he has shared his best counsel with the president, and is working on his behalf to achieve the president's goals.

 

Kudlow's ability to be wrong about economics and finance due to his political agenda is legendary. If he opposed the Trump trade policy, Trump should order him to go out in public and say so.

 

This is the dumbest talking point ever.

If the numbers are calculated the same way, and continue to show improvement, then I don't know what you're objecting to -- especially when the U-6 rate continues to improve as well.

You should probably read this article, and look at the charts in it: