I think I know what Trump is up to.
Full disclosure – I didn’t vote for Trump in the South Carolina primary because I didn’t think he could win in the general election. I also didn’t vote for Trump in the general election because I was sick of being forced to choose between the lesser of two evils and I voted for Gary Johnson as a matter of principle.
But….I’m so glad I was wrong about him not being able to win! I’m very happy that Hillary Clinton will never be a POTUS and for that I’m grateful for Trump and those who didn’t think as I did.
Like most folks, I’m now looking at the actions of the Trump PEOTUS actions and I trying to figure out what kind of POTUS he’ll be. Will he be a twitter happy buffoon who goes down as one of the worst person to ever hold that office or will he be what this country has needed for about 20 years – an outsider who will break with politics and bring real world management to a town that sorely needs it?
Prior to the election I was leaning toward the former but I’m now confident and hoping that Trump will continue to prove me wrong and he ends up being the latter. And as a person who believes we need more political outsiders running our country, I hope he is successful because if he’s not, we’ll have to deal with career politicians for at least a generation.
Knowing that I’m rooting for him to be a success (and therefore will be successful for our country), here is what I think Trump is planning in his first year.
Trump’s use of Twitter has angered his detractors and they have claimed this shows how immature he is and how unprepared he is for the office of POTUS. But I think his use of Twitter is genius and throws the Left off the track of his overall plan.
Look how upset the MSM and others were with his tweets against SNL, the Hamilton play, Boeing’s price tag for Air Force One, and many others that they don’t focus on what Trump is really working on behind the scenes. I think the Liberal media is playing checkers while Trump is playing chess.
I don’t claim to be a political expert but it’s pretty clear to me what Trump’s real target is and what he’ll focus on during the first year of his Presidency and it has nothing to do with ISIS, Iran nuclear deals, Illegal Immigration or anything else that was bantered about during the campaign.
Trump’s target is China.
His phone call with Taiwan, his alliance with Russia (who has had a soft alliance with China but Trump is obviously trying to drive a wedge between them) and his condemnation of Boeing (who has vast interests in China) are all clues to whom he is targeting.
He doesn’t like that US manufacturing has migrated to China (due to cheap labor and high US corporate tax rates) and he’s made the claim that the country has engaged in unfair trade practices that hurts the US so he’s going to launch a full out assault on that country.
China is a super power that has nuclear weapons and they are the world’s 2nd largest economy but they are vulnerable. They manipulate their currency and they aren’t exactly well liked with the rest of the international community. Their economic growth is slowing and they are now struggling to compete as their labor rates are now rising to the point where they are no longer the default choice for companies looking to offshore.
I think Trump will partner with Russia to enter into an economic war with China and depending on the level of the rhetoric, it could quite possibly lead to a new Cold War but with China as our foe instead of Russia.
Of course there is always the thought that Putin is playing Trump and he will keep his alliance with China and then we’ll be fighting two world super powers but it seems Putin likes Trump and would rather have us as an ally instead of their Chinese neighbor.
I hope cooler heads will prevail and we avoid the Cold War but if Trump (and the Republican House and Senate) can roll back corporate tax rates and remove the incentive to manufacture products abroad, he can deal a lethal blow to the Chinese economy and kick-start the US economy at the same time.
It’s a difficult and tenuous game that he is choosing to play and I hope I continue to be proven wrong about him. I would like nothing more than to see the US economy humming on all cylinders and China reeling.
The 1st 100 days of Trump’s tenure will be very interesting to watch.
cosmoscon 
We’ve witnessed 8 years of “apology tours” and the selling out of the American worker. Obama and his regime can talk all they want about how much they “care” about the middle class worker, but that’s all it is….a bunch of talk. Behind the scenes they have promoted destructive trade policies and done their damnedest to promote economic growth outside of the U.S. “Why” they pursued this path is, to me, irrelevant to the core issue of the outcome.
“Capital goes where it’s treated the best” is an indisputable fact. Demonizing corporations as “greedy” and having the highest corporate tax rate in the world certainly discourages domestic investment. China, by virtue of being MUCH smarter than those who’ve negotiated on our behalf the last 8 years (and longer) has attracted the investment capital. Add to that the crap they pull with devaluing their currency, a bogus “stock market”, repressed wages, and that they tax OUR imports to them, while we do NOTHING to theirs, and ANY person with a scintilla of economic and business acumen would tell you it’s a losing proposition.
Personally, I voted for Trump. As much of an unknown as he was in certain areas, it was less of a concern to me than the KNOWN quantities of Hillary and her band of crooks. Frankly, I grew tired of the empty promises of the Right-wing Establishment who tell us one thing to get elected and then go off in a completely different direction. The Left is no longer “Democrat”. They are openly Socialists and have created a plantation of welfare that serves as the “new slavery” to far too many.
Hillary’s message was “don’t elect THAT guy”, and she demonstrated zero new vision for the Country….just the old leftist rhetoric: promoting victim mentalities, fear mongering, etc. Trump actually spoke to the working people and those who don’t put themselves into the victim-status category, but want to work, create and prosper.
Frankly, if I were Trump, I’d worry less about China and MORE about the sabotage that the Left is going to try to heap on him. He’s not even in office yet, and they are the #fakenews party. Lord knows how insane they’re going to get in the next 4 years….
The more then Left loses their minds over every little Trump tweet the more I like this guy.
As you mentioned, Trump tapped into the working class folks who have been ignored for far too long. You can’t continue to attack them, call them racists, bitter clingers and then tell them that they need to lose their jobs (i.e. coal miners). The backlash was huuuuge.
I also don’t like demonizing ‘corporate profit’ and corporations in general because people fail to realize that they are the job creators. You tax a company to the point where they have to leave the country isn’t hurting the corporation and it isn’t getting the government any more taxes. I’d rather have corporate tax rates 0% and all those folks working in jobs here, vs abroad, will still pay taxes with every paycheck!
I think it’s possible to do more then one thing at once. I also did not vote for Trump in primary or general for same reasons as you but would have if I lived in a swing state instead of socialist California.
I don’t disagree with your view on China except I dont think either party wants a trade war. It’s very clear now a Trump primary goal is energy independence and detente with Russia.
Tillerson at State, Perry at Energy and Pruitt at EPA signals Trump is all in to develop the new 20 Billion barrels of reserves newly discovered in West Texas as well as Colorado and the Dakotas.
Tillerson goes to Putin and says the US is done importing oil and he has a choice. The US will help Russia develop its huge oil reserves or it can invade Crimea and we will strengthen international sanctions and drive the value of Russia’s existing oil down even more.
Half of Russia’s exports are oil. Exports were down 35% in 2015. If the price doesn’t go up, Russia needs help developing it’s natural resources.
US GDP is $19 trillion, China is $12 trillion and Russia’s $1.3 trillion.
Russia can’t afford too much adventurism.
Classic carrot and stick realpolitik.
It’s why Bob Gates, Condoleezza Rice and James Baker all recommended Tillerson for Secretary.
My guess is Trump had never heard of Tillerson until they recommended him.
Good point about Trump probably not even thinking about Tillerson. I think if Trump is successful, this is where he’ll need to lean on his ability to surround himself with bright folks and take their counsel.
The more I think about Tillerson the more I like that move. Exxon probably has more employees than the federal government so the guy obviously can lead a large organization. Also, he’s cut deals with just about every major country in the world so he knows more world leaders than most folks in the State Department.
Russia needs oil and putting an Oil guy at the head of State has to have Putin worried and looking for more ways to get into favor with Trump.
I too do not want a trade war. I’m a free market guy and have no desire to penalize companies for getting their products made overseas due to lower labor rates. I do have a problem with them going overseas to escape the high corporate tax rates and I hope we drop those to close to 0% and that alone will keep jobs here and bring some back. And not sacrificing low cost products.
Just curious how you think by forcing companies to “bring back” jobs to America, that is all good for the American economy? Are you going to be happy when most of the shoes and clothing you wear now doubles in price? How will US companies that now manufacture overseas be able to compete with companies from other countries that are not shackled by Trumps “nationalism”. I’m all for keep jobs here in the US – but just be prepared for the fall out. Lower wages, more layoffs, more automation, etc to stay competitive. You can’t have your cake and eat it to. While it might be good for the companies and their employees, the US consumer is going to pay.
I’m a Free Market guy and have no issue with a company finding the cheapest place to make their products so the consumer gets the highest quality product for their hard earned dollar. We’ll never be able to compete with cheap labor in foreign countries to make simple goods like clothing and we shouldn’t want that.
What I want to to do is lower the Corporate Tax rate to 0% and eliminate the flight of jobs for complex products that could be made in the US at low prices but companies choose to move to avoid corporate taxes. That is silly and we should fix that soon!
I don’t like the sweetheart deals that he’s made with carrier because that is just more of the crony capitalism we’ve seen for about 16 years. I hope that was just to prove a point and once he takes office he’ll work with congress to level the playing field and make the rules (i.e. tax rates) uniform across the board. There will be no need for individual deals after that point.
The next 25 years are going to be very scary for working class uneducated people.
Agriculture transitioned to manufacturing, then service, now it’s transitioning to automation in all fields. Virtual reality will have the potential to teach anyone to do anything if they can simply follow step by step directions.
The best Trump can do is create a better business climate and use his bully pulpit to urge people and companies to buy American and keep jobs here.