Jonathan Swan

And around the circle goes.

And around the circle goes.

No, it's really ad hoc and it's a total mess. And they're now desperately trying to find off ramps and ways of getting out of this global trade war that Trump has started.

No, it's really ad hoc and it's a total mess. And they're now desperately trying to find off ramps and ways of getting out of this global trade war that Trump has started.

And as one person said to me recently, Republicans might be afraid of Donald Trump, but the bond markets aren't afraid of Donald Trump and the economy's not afraid of Donald Trump and the stock market's not afraid of Donald Trump. And he did run into something that he couldn't intimidate, that he couldn't threaten.

And as one person said to me recently, Republicans might be afraid of Donald Trump, but the bond markets aren't afraid of Donald Trump and the economy's not afraid of Donald Trump and the stock market's not afraid of Donald Trump. And he did run into something that he couldn't intimidate, that he couldn't threaten.

And that created such a sense of panic on his senior team that they basically begged him to initiate that 90 day pause on his reciprocal tariffs. Begged. They absolutely made a very strong case. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the vice president, even nobody with perhaps the exception of

And that created such a sense of panic on his senior team that they basically begged him to initiate that 90 day pause on his reciprocal tariffs. Begged. They absolutely made a very strong case. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the vice president, even nobody with perhaps the exception of

Peter Navarro thinks that Trump's plan of initiating a global trade war was well thought through and that it would create the stipulated goal of a golden age of reshored heavy industry American manufacturing.

Peter Navarro thinks that Trump's plan of initiating a global trade war was well thought through and that it would create the stipulated goal of a golden age of reshored heavy industry American manufacturing.

All that's true, but they have clearly signaled that they are on a direction of retreat.

All that's true, but they have clearly signaled that they are on a direction of retreat.

He has blinked, and the only challenge for them is how to spin capitulation in a way that's not capitulation. They are desperate for an off-ramp with China, to the point where Trump is saying that he got a phone call from President Xi Jinping, which as far as we can tell is a phone call that doesn't exist and never happened. So they're desperate for off-ramps, and Charlie's right.

He has blinked, and the only challenge for them is how to spin capitulation in a way that's not capitulation. They are desperate for an off-ramp with China, to the point where Trump is saying that he got a phone call from President Xi Jinping, which as far as we can tell is a phone call that doesn't exist and never happened. So they're desperate for off-ramps, and Charlie's right.

That doesn't mean that the crisis is going to be unwound because so much damage has been done, so much uncertainty has been injected, but they're very clearly signaling that they realize that this went too far, and they're trying to figure out a way to get back to something closer to the status quo. Yeah.

That doesn't mean that the crisis is going to be unwound because so much damage has been done, so much uncertainty has been injected, but they're very clearly signaling that they realize that this went too far, and they're trying to figure out a way to get back to something closer to the status quo. Yeah.

I think a couple of things have happened. One is Trump thought he had more leverage than he actually does over Putin and Xi Jinping. I know from talking to people who've talked to Trump about this, that particularly with Xi Jinping, Trump had this idea that China would... basically fold, and that him and Xi Jinping would then get in the room together. On the tariff front.

I think a couple of things have happened. One is Trump thought he had more leverage than he actually does over Putin and Xi Jinping. I know from talking to people who've talked to Trump about this, that particularly with Xi Jinping, Trump had this idea that China would... basically fold, and that him and Xi Jinping would then get in the room together. On the tariff front.

Yeah, on the tariff front, and China has made clear that that's not going to happen. On Russia, when he came into office and in the transition, he had this notion that what he would say privately is that Putin is in real trouble, his economy is in real trouble, with additional sanctions or other financial measures, we can bring him to the table. again, looks like a miscalculation.

Yeah, on the tariff front, and China has made clear that that's not going to happen. On Russia, when he came into office and in the transition, he had this notion that what he would say privately is that Putin is in real trouble, his economy is in real trouble, with additional sanctions or other financial measures, we can bring him to the table. again, looks like a miscalculation.