Neo-fascist con man Donald "Bone Spurs" Trump has backed down from his threat to impose ascending tariffs on our largest trading partner, Mexico. After facing growing opposition from within his own party, and from corporate powers fearing an unnecessary trade war, the Trump regime was forced to accept a commitment from Mexico to try to slow the flow of Central American immigrants by deploying its national guard on their southern border and by holding asylum seekers in Mexico pending adjudication of their requests.
The tariff threat and the uproar it created among Rethuglican pols and big business was a Trumpian self-inflicted wound. By using the threat of tariffs that would damage the U.S. economy as a blunt force instrument to stem immigration along the southern border, Trump demonstrated that he has his cult-like, bigoted base foremost in mind for 2020. From the Times article:
"Mr. Trump’s lashing out at Mexico last week grew out of his deepening frustration with the surge of migrants that have been arriving at the border, many of them families with children from Central America who are fleeing violence and economic distress in their home countries.It's doubtful that much will change going forward. Mexico knows that Trump's domestic support on tariffs is paper thin (save for his red cap mob), and that his own Senate will reject more tariffs. Mexico is playing the long game, expecting that a desperate Trump will eventually reload and shoot his other foot as 2020 approaches.
Mr. Trump views the increase in immigration as a direct assault on his political brand and the promises that he made while running for president. He vowed to build a wall along the border and eliminate illegal immigration — two pledges that he has largely failed to deliver as president." (our emphasis)
BONUS: Sen. Schumer snarks his reaction --
This is an historic night!@realDonaldTrump has announced that he has cut a deal to “greatly reduce, or eliminate, Illegal Immigration coming from Mexico and into the United States.”— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) June 8, 2019
Now that that problem is solved, I’m sure we won’t be hearing any more about it in the future. https://t.co/DNNfbevkGP
BONUS II: Upon further review, it's "rapidly" "unprecedented" and "decisive!" (Here's text of agreement.)
Looks like Mexico agreed to a bunch of adjectives. Art of the deal.— Sam Bagenstos (@sbagen) June 8, 2019
UPDATE: The agreement Bone Spurs is claiming as a yuuge victory?
The deal to avert tariffs that President Trump announced with great fanfare on Friday night consists largely of actions that Mexico had already promised to take in prior discussions with the United States over the past several months, according to officials from both countries who are familiar with the negotiations. [snip]
It was unclear whether Mr. Trump believed that the agreement truly represented new and broader concessions, or whether the president understood the limits of the deal but accepted it as a face-saving way to escape from the political and economic consequences of imposing tariffs on Mexico, which he began threatening less than two weeks ago. (our emphasis)Let's make a wild guess here: Bone Spurs believed (was told) it was a new and broader concession by Mexico and doesn't understand the limits of the deal. So much winning!
