WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump Tower had just opened and “The Art of the Deal” three years from publication when 38-year-old Donald Trump suggested he could negotiate Russian arms control better than Ronald Reagan.
uncertain
he → open → Reagan
“It would take an hour-and-a-half to learn everything there is to learn about missiles,” Trump told The Washington Post in 1984.
asserted
Trump → take → 1984
“You either have it, or you don’t,” he said.
asserted
he → have → it
Before there was much talk of being a personal brand, Trump had landed on his: the consummate, swashbuckling, never-lose negotiator.
asserted
Trump → be → his
It was an image he cultivated in the New York tabloids and later on reality TV, repeating it so often that, to his supporters, perception became reality.
asserted
perception → cultivate → supporters
Now, as he zigzags the country for Republican candidates, from Florida to Alaska, Trump is exhorting voters to again embrace him as an unqualified success in a midterm election that has become a referendum on his presidency and his record as a dealmaker.
asserted
that → zigzag → dealmaker
An examination of Trump’s dealmaking, both in his time in the White House and in the private sector, shows decidedly mixed results.
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examination → show → results
“He’s not as good at this as he thinks he is,” said Christopher Preble, senior fellow and director of the Reimagining U.S. Grand Strategy program at the Stimson Center, an international security think tank.
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Preble → ’ → Center
As president, Trump’s boasts of deals have not materialized
He insisted that Iran would be defeated in mere weeks.
asserted
Iran → materialize → weeks
He later brokered what he called a “great” ceasefire, though it quickly fizzled.
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it → broker → what
Trump repeatedly has said Tehran is desperate to make a deal to end fighting.
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Tehran → say → fighting
That also proved untrue.
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That → prove → ?
He promised to negotiate an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine in a day.
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He → promise → day
He announced an agreement that he said meant Moscow and Kyiv would not attack each other’s energy infrastructure.
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Moscow → announce → infrastructure
That pause never happened, even as the president insisted it would hold.
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it → happen → ?
“I said, ‘You agreed,’” Trump said in defending his assertions.
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Trump → say → assertions
“That’s why.”
asserted
That → ’ → ?
Trump promised he would use the threat of tariffs to negotiate the best trade deals ever, only to offer unilateral duties nearly the whole world over.
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he → promise → duties
Those import taxes have raised domestic prices and sparked trade wars with America’s close friends, including Canada.
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taxes → raise → Canada
The levies brought in more than $83 billion this year through September, much of it paid for by American consumers and still far less federal revenue than Trump suggested.
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Trump → bring → consumers
Even on less consequential matters, Trump’s deals have foundered.
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deals → founder → matters
He said he had a “guy who’s unbelievable at doing swimming pools” who could fix the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool for a little more than $1 million.
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who → say → million
Trump’s presidential efforts follow his business patterns
The president’s public acts typically mirror a well-traveled private sector pattern.
asserted
acts → follow → pattern
He frequently boasted about doing better in negotiations than he really had, then sought to cover expensive missteps by refusing to pay people working for him, often suing them.
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he → boast → them
His biggest successes came when he had maximum leverage.
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he → come → leverage
“You can spin a real estate deal, as, ’Oh, you know, I got the better part of the deal because I bought it for this much and I sold it for this much,’” Preble said.
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Preble → spin → much
“There’s a certain bit of tap dancing around those details that he just can’t do given what’s happening in the world today.
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what → ’ → world
Trump’s core narrative as master dealmaker had begun to fade until “The Apprentice” debuted in 2004.
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Apprentice → begin → 2004
Allowed to play a rich and powerful tycoon on television, Trump rebooted his dealmaker persona.
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Trump → allow → persona
That image of wealth and success helped launch his first presidential run “because people feel like, ‘Well, if he’s the president some of that success and wealth is gonna rub off on me,’” said Joel Penney, a professor at Montclair State University who studies the intersection of pop culture and politics.
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who → help → culture
But even now, as his approval ratings have sunk to near-historic lows, Trump still insists he is among the best dealmakers the world has known.
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world → sink → dealmakers
Tim O’Brien, author of “TrumpNation: The Art of Being The Donald,” said Trump may finally find out after Election Day on Nov. 3 “how much voters believe that he’s a competent manager and a great dealmaker.”
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he → say → Nov.
Many of Trump’s business and presidential deals collapsed
Marty Latz, a negotiation expert and author of “The Real Trump Deal: An Eye-opening Look At How He Really Negotiates,” said Trump the businessman saw every negotiation as a zero-sum game.
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Trump → collapse → game
“The reality is, he did negotiate some excellent deals, but also that he did fail spectacularly in a number of deals, and that he has never really successfully negotiated as president in a significant number of contexts,” Latz said.
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Latz → negotiate → contexts
Trump has long been guided by the notion that he can only win.
asserted
he → guide → notion
“He could be a better negotiator if his ego didn’t get in the way,” said Barbara Res, a former executive vice president in charge of construction at the Trump Organization, who wrote “Tower of Lies: What My Eighteen Years of Working with Donald Trump Reveals about Him.”
uncertain
Years → get → Him
“Any concession that should be made, he can’t make.
asserted
he → make → concession
Then, with the other parts of it, nothing can continue.
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nothing → continue → it
He just has to win everything.”
asserted
He → have → everything
Some Trump deals have succeeded or still might
Top officials in the Trump administration go to great lengths to amplify the idea that he is a master negotiator.
“I make one of those deals every day that no normal person would make,” the president said in May, defending having the U.S. take a stake in the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern rail merger.
uncertain
U.S. → succeed → merger
…and 33 more, not listed.
The Aporia
