Ezra Klein

I am... livid about this particular thing. So the press secretary, the White House press secretary today said to the media, I guess a bunch of you didn't read the art of the deal. Oh, my God. When he he pulled off the or did a 90 day pause. There was no deal. We didn't get anything. We vaporized a huge amount of wealth. Yes.

I am... livid about this particular thing. So the press secretary, the White House press secretary today said to the media, I guess a bunch of you didn't read the art of the deal. Oh, my God. When he he pulled off the or did a 90 day pause. There was no deal. We didn't get anything. We vaporized a huge amount of wealth. Yes.

We have created a signal that everybody else should trust us less and fortify themselves against these tariffs coming back in 90 days. Trump has become himself far less popular. We've put the financial system under a lot of strain. We have frozen a huge amount of future investment. This idea that you act the madman in order to get these extraordinary concessions, we didn't get any concessions.

We have created a signal that everybody else should trust us less and fortify themselves against these tariffs coming back in 90 days. Trump has become himself far less popular. We've put the financial system under a lot of strain. We have frozen a huge amount of future investment. This idea that you act the madman in order to get these extraordinary concessions, we didn't get any concessions.

And even if, you know, I guess maybe the idea here would be we showed we're serious. And so people will come to us and offer, I don't know, you know, if you're Vietnam to buy more of our something. We got nothing. What we did was we lit a lot of our political capital and geopolitical capital on fire. On fire. And we are calling that a victory.

And even if, you know, I guess maybe the idea here would be we showed we're serious. And so people will come to us and offer, I don't know, you know, if you're Vietnam to buy more of our something. We got nothing. What we did was we lit a lot of our political capital and geopolitical capital on fire. On fire. And we are calling that a victory.

But also Trump has now shown that there is a place he can't go. So his leverage over the rest of the world just diminished because what the world just learned is that he actually can't destroy his own bond market. Right. So if he tries to do this again, and the world does not want to be pushed around by us, they can wait us out.

But also Trump has now shown that there is a place he can't go. So his leverage over the rest of the world just diminished because what the world just learned is that he actually can't destroy his own bond market. Right. So if he tries to do this again, and the world does not want to be pushed around by us, they can wait us out.

Now, there's a concentrating issue with China, and we'll see how that plays out.

Now, there's a concentrating issue with China, and we'll see how that plays out.

I want to pick up on the Washington consensus again, because we're talking about Donald Trump. And I think it's fair to say we agree that his policies here are dumb and destructive. Yeah. But there is the issue of the consensus again.

I want to pick up on the Washington consensus again, because we're talking about Donald Trump. And I think it's fair to say we agree that his policies here are dumb and destructive. Yeah. But there is the issue of the consensus again.

I don't agree with how Trump is doing it, but in general, tariffs are important. We don't produce enough here. You know, we produce too much there. I have talked to many Democrats who they will say that they don't agree with how Donald Trump is doing it, but he's sort of right about China. And my worry, again, is that they are wrong.

I don't agree with how Trump is doing it, but in general, tariffs are important. We don't produce enough here. You know, we produce too much there. I have talked to many Democrats who they will say that they don't agree with how Donald Trump is doing it, but he's sort of right about China. And my worry, again, is that they are wrong.

They are trying to compete with the China 15 years ago when maybe you could have tariffed your way out of it. And that the impulse Democrats have on China is to be Trump-lite. that there is no one making a case for openness.

They are trying to compete with the China 15 years ago when maybe you could have tariffed your way out of it. And that the impulse Democrats have on China is to be Trump-lite. that there is no one making a case for openness.

Even if you don't believe in that case, I think it would be healthy for some people, aside from maybe just you, to be making it, but also no sense that the technology transfer might now need to go in the other direction. And I guess the final thing that worries me is that there is the possibility, right, for the relationship to call into existence the thing that it is supposedly preparing for.

Even if you don't believe in that case, I think it would be healthy for some people, aside from maybe just you, to be making it, but also no sense that the technology transfer might now need to go in the other direction. And I guess the final thing that worries me is that there is the possibility, right, for the relationship to call into existence the thing that it is supposedly preparing for.

Even during the Biden administration, when they're beginning to build technological walls, you know, a lot of the reporting I saw suggested, I think quite reasonably, that China understood that as Washington coming to the view that it would try to force

Even during the Biden administration, when they're beginning to build technological walls, you know, a lot of the reporting I saw suggested, I think quite reasonably, that China understood that as Washington coming to the view that it would try to force