Tom Friedman

And two, you would be serious about that ecosystem I talked about and giving our government, our company's incentives, doing everything we can to get the infrastructure and opportunities for that ecosystem to get going. That would be the rational thing. What did Trump do? He made it America against the world, the whole world at the same time.

And two, you would be serious about that ecosystem I talked about and giving our government, our company's incentives, doing everything we can to get the infrastructure and opportunities for that ecosystem to get going. That would be the rational thing. What did Trump do? He made it America against the world, the whole world at the same time.

So he actually threw away our single greatest competitive advantage over China, which is that we have allies and China has vassals. Our colleague David Brooks likes to say, you know, Trump is always the wrong answer to the right question.

So he actually threw away our single greatest competitive advantage over China, which is that we have allies and China has vassals. Our colleague David Brooks likes to say, you know, Trump is always the wrong answer to the right question.

Yes.

Yes.

Ezra, you have to understand, okay, today Trump, on my way over here, he decided he's going to pause the tariffs and whatnot. Lesotho doesn't have to worry. What he is missing is the world, but China in particular, thinks he's an unstable actor. They look at what's going on here. They watch that Zelensky meeting in the Oval Office.

Ezra, you have to understand, okay, today Trump, on my way over here, he decided he's going to pause the tariffs and whatnot. Lesotho doesn't have to worry. What he is missing is the world, but China in particular, thinks he's an unstable actor. They look at what's going on here. They watch that Zelensky meeting in the Oval Office.

And they have watched that Trump tore up a basically successor agreement to NAFTA that he negotiated with our two closest neighbors. And they're saying to themselves two things. One is, how do we even get in a room, our leader get in a room with this guy? We don't know what he's going to say. And number two, say we do do an agreement with him. He could tear it up the next day.

And they have watched that Trump tore up a basically successor agreement to NAFTA that he negotiated with our two closest neighbors. And they're saying to themselves two things. One is, how do we even get in a room, our leader get in a room with this guy? We don't know what he's going to say. And number two, say we do do an agreement with him. He could tear it up the next day.

So he always thinks he's being cute. Like this is some, he's buying, you know, some apartment block on Long Island and he can kind of do whatever he wants. This is a big game. And they don't think he's a stable actor anymore. There's been a real cost for this back and forth. Hey, I'm glad the stock market, you know, went back up today, but don't think this has been cost-free.

So he always thinks he's being cute. Like this is some, he's buying, you know, some apartment block on Long Island and he can kind of do whatever he wants. This is a big game. And they don't think he's a stable actor anymore. There's been a real cost for this back and forth. Hey, I'm glad the stock market, you know, went back up today, but don't think this has been cost-free.

But there was no deal made here. There was, as you say, worse than no deal. We shot ourselves in both feet. And now we are in a much less powerful position because we've alienated all those allies we need to create leverage on China in the future. And so it's an unmitigated disaster.

But there was no deal made here. There was, as you say, worse than no deal. We shot ourselves in both feet. And now we are in a much less powerful position because we've alienated all those allies we need to create leverage on China in the future. And so it's an unmitigated disaster.

Mm hmm.

Mm hmm.

So let me respond in two ways. I want to go back first to the point we were discussing about just the unseriousness of this administration. The morning after Trump announced he was putting this massive tariff on China, when the markets really melted down, I actually called our editors and said, not the most important story of the day, not the most disturbing story of the day.

So let me respond in two ways. I want to go back first to the point we were discussing about just the unseriousness of this administration. The morning after Trump announced he was putting this massive tariff on China, when the markets really melted down, I actually called our editors and said, not the most important story of the day, not the most disturbing story of the day.

Please don't lose sight of this story. On the day before, we learned, or maybe in the same day, that Laura Loomer, a conspiracy peddler who believes 9-11 was an inside job, was in the Oval Office, and we have since learned

Please don't lose sight of this story. On the day before, we learned, or maybe in the same day, that Laura Loomer, a conspiracy peddler who believes 9-11 was an inside job, was in the Oval Office, and we have since learned