Now Trump's White House chaos is rocking the world
Updated 2227 GMT (0627 HKT) March 2, 2018
"What's
been allowed to go on for decades is disgraceful. It's disgraceful,"
Trump told reporters, delivering a sudden shock to the global economy by
saying he would unveil tariffs next week of 25% on steel and 10% on
aluminum. He further stoked fears of world turmoil Friday morning,
tweeting that "trade wars are good" when the US is losing billions in
overseas deals.
World powers now know what
it's been like for Trump's fellow Republicans and staff in a week of
turmoil and neck-jerking policy pivots that have left them groping for
clarity and trying to work out exactly where the President stands.
At home, stocks crashed on the President's offhanded announcement, while GOP leaders, stung by a second straight day of Trump trampling party orthodoxy after his surreal meeting Wednesday on guns, registered dissent and frustration.
"We
were told at the beginning of all this that Donald Trump was
comfortable with chaos -- that's how he is accustomed to operate," David
Axelrod, a former Obama administration top strategist, said on CNN's
"The Situation Room."
"That may be
OK if you are running a small family branding business, but when you are
in the most important office on the planet it can have grave
consequences," Axelrod said.
CNN Money: Some of America's top allies are really, really angry about Trump's tariffs
Given
the on-again-off-again nature of Thursday's announcement and subsequent
lack of details, there was more than a suspicion that the trade move
had been fast-tracked to distract from a disastrous week.
A feud between Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the resignation of his confidante Hope Hicks, successive political blows to his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and signs of multiple lines of inquiry by special counsel Robert Mueller leading deep into the President's inner circle mean Trump has plenty of incentive to try to change the subject.
In another blow to a West Wing under siege, CNN reported Thursday that FBI counterintelligence was probing a deal sealed by the President's daughter Ivanka in Canada to see whether it left her vulnerable to foreign agents.
White
House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders denied the President was trying to
divert attention from all that with his trade announcement, saying it
was hardly news that Trump thinks global commerce, particularly as
practiced by nations like China, cheats American workers.
"The
President is concerned about the men and women of this country who have
been forgotten about, the industries that our country was founded and
built on. And this shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody," she said.
Even
so, Thursday's move, which is likely to spark follow-on turmoil in
Asian and European markets, offered a glimpse of how an erratic
President looking for diversions amid deepening crises could act in ways
that jolt global stability.
Given
that the turmoil surrounding Trump seems to spin more out of control by
the day, the world could be in for a rough ride in the coming months.
Still,
while much of the Washington and global establishment will be bracing
for more, Trump supporters are unlikely to be fazed, since his
unpredictability and disdain for long-held conventions and behavioral
codes are exactly why they voted for him as they looked for someone
willing to shake things up.
But anyone who is not in his famously loyal voting base may beg to differ.
The downside of instinctive leadership
Thursday
was not the first time that Trump's determination to honor his
populist, nationalist campaign rhetoric had sent shock waves around the
globe. It helped drive his decision to pull out of the Paris climate
accord and repeated efforts to sink the Iran nuclear deal brokered by
President Barack Obama, both of which caused panic and consternation
abroad.
The drama was also typical
of the unpredictable, often unspecific style of leadership that appears
often to skirt over the possible consequences of Trump's tendency to
trust his instincts.
There
was not much sign, for instance, that the White House had gamed out the
reactions of trading partners to the new tariffs and the risk of a
trade war and damage to key alliances that they could provoke.
A
trade war could well destabilize the global economy and have
consequences for the President's political fortunes if US stocks and
growth take a hit from reprisals by foreign powers, in sectors other
than steel and aluminum.
Molson Coors, for instance, warned that tariffs on aluminum could push up the cost of beer in cans and cause jobs to be lost.
"There
will be retaliation, there will be a response and I think it is
extremely unfortunate," Carlos Gutierrez, who served as commerce
secretary under President George W. Bush, said on CNN International.
"This is most likely going to be a self-inflicted wound that will go on
for a while."
Playing
several moves ahead has not been one of Trump's strengths as President.
Had he done so as he was staffing his administration, he might have
concluded it was perhaps unwise to invite his family and their tangled
business ties into the West Wing, a decision that has now landed him
multiple ethical troubles.
US
allies like Britain and Canada registered alarm at Trump's trade move,
balking especially at the White House's rationale that their steel
imports threatened US national security.
But foreign officials, just like those in Washington, struggled to work out exactly what Trump means to do.
"As
a key NORAD and NATO ally, and as the number one customer of American
steel, Canada would view any trade restrictions on Canadian steel and
aluminum as absolutely unacceptable," Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia
Freeland said, promising retaliation if Trump goes ahead.
Britain
was mostly puzzled: CNN's Jim Acosta reported that a UK government
spokesman said, "We are engaging with the US on what this announcement
means in practice."
Those
reactions mirrored the indignation and mystification painted on the
faces of GOP senators who sat through the President's freewheeling,
contradictory session on gun reform at the White House on Wednesday.
The
lack of detail and planning seems endemic to a presidency that revolves
around impulsive tweets and off-the-cuff comments by a President who
has said he likes to keep everyone off balance like a negotiator in a
real estate deal.
A White House
official, for instance, told CNN's Dan Merica that a planned
announcement on steps Trump will take to respond to the Florida school
massacre was postponed while officials distill a coherent policy plan
from the meeting.
