JUST, REALLY MOMENTS AFTER SAYING HE WAS GOING TO TEAR UP
NAFTA AND PULL OUT COMPLETELY, PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS REVERSED
COURSE.
ACCORDING TO A STATEMENT FROM THE WHITE HOUSE, PRESIDENT TRUMP
AGREED NOT TO TERMINATE NAFTA AT THIS TIME, AND THE LEADERS
AGREED TO ACT SWIFTLY ñ
TO PROCEED SWIFTLY TO RENEGOTIATE THE NASTY ñ
THE NAFTA DEAL TO THE BENEFIT OF ALL THREE COUNTRIES.
TALKING POINTS MEMO SAYS THAT THE STATEMENT FROM THE WHITE
HOUSE FOLLOWED TWO REPORTS THAT TRUNK ADVISERS HAD GONE SO
FAR AS TO DRAFT AN EXECUTIVE ORDER AS TO WITHDRAW THE
UNITED STATES FROM NAFTA.
THE THING IS, TRUMP IS AN OPEN-MINDED GUY, AND HE LOOKED
INTO NAFTA AFTER SAYING HE WOULD PULL OUT, AND REALIZED, WHO
WOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT IT'S ACTUALLY REALLY COMPLICATED?
NO ONE WOULD HAVE KNOWN.
HE COULD HAVE GOTTEN A 10 MINUTE BRIEFING ABOUT NAFTA, LIKE HE
DID WITH CHINA OR NORTH KOREA.
OR READ SOMETHING.
ANYTHING WOULD HAVE HELPED.
IT'S SO WEIRD, BUT I THINK IT'S BAKED INTO HIS PERSONA, AND
HIS APPROACH TO EVERYTHING, HE IS FORGIVEN FOR ALL THESE
BRASH, OVERT MOVES THAT HE JUST OUT OF COMES UP WITH, AND
SAYS TO GET A FEEL.
HE'S THROWING SPAGHETTI AT THE WALL ALL THE TIME, AND IT
SEEMS LIKE THIS EXCUSES IT SOMEHOW, AND IT'S FRUSTRATING.
I DON'T WANT ANYONE TO MISUNDERSTAND THE WAY I AM
RESPONDING TO THIS STORY.
I DON'T THINK THAT NAFTA IS PERFECT.
IS FLAWED IN MANY WAYS.
I GET HAS HAD SOME UNEXPECTED, UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES FOR
THE UNITED STATES, AND MEXICO, AND I'M SURE TO SOME EXTENT
CANADA AS WELL.
FOR INSTANCE, WE PRODUCE SO MUCH CHEAP CORN, AND WE ARE NOW
EXPORTING IT TO MEXICO.
LIKE ABOUT ALL THE FARMERS ñ
THE FARMERS IN MEXICO THAT RELIED ON THEIR CORN CROPS.
SO IT'S NOT JUST AMERICA SUFFERING AND EVERYONE ELSE
IS DOING WELL, THERE ARE RAMIFICATIONS FOR EVERYONE
INVOLVED.
BUT THERE ARE POSITIVES, IT IS A COP LOCATED ISSUE.
ñ IS A COMPLICATED ISSUE.
AND THEN DONALD TRUMP MAKES UNEDUCATED STATEMENTS ABOUT
THESE POLICIES, OR THESE ISSUES, AND THAT'S WITH PROBLEMATIC
HERE.
IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT NAFTA, IT'S ABOUT EVERY POLITICAL ISSUE
THAT HE HAS GOTTEN INVOLVED IN.
THAT IS TRUE, AND HE IS A GUY WHO DOES NOT SEE THE GRAY
AREA IN SO MUCH OF WHAT HAPPENS IN POLITICS, AND IN LIFE,
AND ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT SERVING AS
SPECIFIC AS FREE-TRADE, HAPPENS IN THE GRAY AREA.
HE WAS ADVISED BY BANNON, AND THAT TRADE UNION GUY, NAVARRO,
THE NATIONAL TRADE INDUSTRIAL COUNSEL, WHO, OF COURSE,
IT'S IN THEIR BEST INTEREST TO GET THIS.
BANNON IS A PR GUY, THE TRADE REPRESENTATIVE WANTS TO GET
RID OF IT JUST LIKE THIS.
BUT SOME PEOPLE'S LIVES DEPEND ON THIS TRADE AGREEMENT
THAT IT IS NAœVE.
YEAH, DISMANTLE IT, BUT DO IT IN A REASONABLE WAY.
DON'T PULL OUT, FIX IT.
IT'S NOT WANT TO BE PERFECT.
WHEN CLINTON PUT IT IN, IT'S NOT WANT TO BE PERFECT.
WHEN GERALD FORD, WHO HIMSELF WAS PRESENT FOR A WHILE, HE
WROTE AN EDITORIAL IN THE PAPERS AROUND THAT TIME, SUPPORTING
NAFTA, AND PEOPLE WERE SAYING IT WAS GOING TO REALLY HURTS,
BECAUSE IT WAS A FORMER PRESIDENT, A REPUBLICAN, CLINTON
MIGHT NOT WANT TO ALIGN HIMSELF ñ IT TURNS OUT HE DID ñ
BUT THEY ALL PREDICT THE THINGS THAT WERE GOING TO BE
PROBLEMATIC WITH NAFTA.
SO, RATHER THAN JUST FIX IT, TRUMP IS DOING WHAT TRUMP DOES,
IT'S EITHER BLACK OR WHITE.
AND HE DOES WANT TO GET RID OF IT.
AND NOW, COOLER HEADS HAVE TO PREVAIL THEN THEY HAVE IN
OTHER CASES WITH TRUMP, AND IT SEEMS THAT THEY HAVE.
FROM THE BUSINESS SIDE, YOU WOULD EXPECT THAT HE WOULD COME
IN WITH SOME KIND OF INTUITION ON THE BUSINESS PART OF IT,
WHICH MEXICO AND CANADA SEEM TO BE OUTSHINING HIM ON THERE.
AND IF YOU HAVE ONE THING ON DONALD TRUMP, MAYBE HE
KNOWS A TINY BIT?
HE HAS GONE BANKRUPT A BUNCH OF TIMES.
PULL OUT OF TPB, SAY I'M GOING TO PULL OUT OF NAFTA, AND
THEN SUDDENLY SAY HE'S GOING TO RENEGOTIATE IT.
WHAT KIND OF EFFECT OF THAT BEHAVIOR HAVE ON THE RIGHT
ñ ON THE NEGOTIATION PROCESS?
IT HELPS HIM WITH VOTERS.
YOU THINK IT HELPS HIM WITH VOTERS?
IT HELPS HIM LIVE UP TO WHAT THOSE VOTERS, WHO ARE
MIDWEST, UNION, BLUE-COLLAR, WHITE AMERICANS, WHO HAD
SOURED ON CLINTON, SOURED ON THE DEMOCRATS, SOURED ON BEING
TAKEN FOR GRANTED, THIS IS A PROMISE TO THEM IN A WEIRD
WAY, THAT THEY ARE GOING TO LIKE.
NOW, IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT THEY LIKE, BRETT'S QUESTION WAS
WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO THE DEAL?
THE DEAL WILL BE HANDLED VERY CAREFULLY OVER A LONG
PERIOD OF TIME.
DONALD TRUMP'S ñ DONALD TRUMP ONCE ANSWERS RIGHT NOW, WE
ARE NOT WHAT YOU PULL OUT OF NAFTA TOMORROW.
3 DIFFERENT PRESIDENTS WORKED ON NAFTA.
AND THEN I LOOKED AT THE VOTE TO PASS NAFTA IN THE SENATE, AND IT
WAS 34 REPUBLICANS AND 27 DEMOCRATS.
IT'S SUCH A WEIRD ALIGNMENT THAT WE HAVE RIGHT NOW, BECAUSE
WE HAVE A REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT WHO WANTS PROTECTIONIST
TRADE POLICIES.
IF YOU GET THAT PASSED, HE'S GOING TO BE APPEALING TO LABOR
UNIONS ON THE LEFT, AND DISSING OFF STAUNCH REPUBLICANS ON THE
RIGHT WHO WANT FREE-TRADE.
MEANWHILE, THE FOLKS WHO ARE NEGOTIATING THIS ARE LIKE,
WILBUR ROSS, WHO IS JUST OLD MONEY ALL THE WAY.
I DON'T HOW IT'S GOING TO COME OFF.
YOU WON'T KNOW FOR A WILD, IT'S GOING TO TAKE FOREVER.
I DO WANT TO PUSH BACK A LITTLE BIT ON HOW THIS IS GOING TO HELP
HIM WITH VOTERS, BECAUSE REMEMBER, THE PEOPLE WHO VOTED
FOR HIM WERE INDIVIDUALS WHO LOVED HIS TOUGH TALK ON
EVERYTHING, AND EVERYTHING HE SAID HE WAS GOING TO DO, HE HAS
EITHER FAILED IN DOING, OR HAS COMPLETE THE SWITCHED HIS
POLICY IDEAS IN REGARD TO THAT.
SO, HE FAILED WHEN IT CAME TO HEALTHCARE, HE HAS FAILED WHEN
IT CAME TO THE MUSLIM THEN, HE HAS FAILED WHEN IT CAME TO
STRIPPING STATES THAT HAVE SANCTUARY CITIES OF FEDERAL
FUNDING.
HE KEEPS RUNNING INTO THESE ROADBLOCKS, AND I DON'T
KNOW IF THAT IS RESONATING WITH HIS VOTERS AT ALL, OR IF IT
IS STARTING TO HIT A NERVE WITH THEM.
YOU ARE RIGHT, MAYBE I MISSPOKE A LITTLE BIT.
I'M NOT SAYING IT IS GOING TO HELP HIM OVERALL WITH VOTERS,
BUT THERE ARE SINGLE ISSUE VOTERS WHO VOTED FOR DONALD
TRUMP AT THIS TIME, WHO ARE IN MANUFACTURING AND AGRICULTURAL
UNIONS, WHO ARE REALLY PISSED OFF ABOUT FREE-TRADE.
HE PULLED OUT OF TPB, GREAT, WE NEVER KNOW WHAT WOULD HAVE
HAPPENED IF HE LOST WITH TPP.
BUT WE DO KNOW THAT THESE VOTERS WANTED HIM TO REJECT NAFTA, AND
I KNOW THAT BANNON IS WORKING ON THIS.
I WOULDN'T SAY THAT THE TRADE UNIONS ARE THAT FAR LEFT,
BUT THE FACT THAT HE IS GOING TO TALK TO THE UNION PEOPLE
AND TRY TO APPEASE THEM BY PULLING OUT OF THIS DEAL I
THINK IS INTERESTING.
THERE HAVE BEEN TALKS SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THE TPP
FRAMEWORK, THE THINGS THAT MEXICO AGREED WITH WITHIN THE
TPP BEING THE KINDS OF THINGS THAT THEY WOULD TALK ABOUT
I NEGOTIATING NAFTA, LIKE, WHAT IS IT?
THE ONLY THING I KNOW IS THAT ALL THAT DONALD TRUMP CAN
DO UNILATERALLY IS TWEAK AN INDIVIDUAL TARIFF ON AN
INDIVIDUAL PRODUCT, AND EVEN THEN IT'S NOT CLEAR, BUT IF
HE DOES THAT, THAT SOUNDS LIKE IT'S MORE IN LINE WITH WHAT
HE HAS DONE BEFORE.
WHICH IS TO GO LOOK AT A LIST OF JOBS THAT HAVE MOVED TO
MEXICO, PICK AN INDUSTRY AFFECTED, SWITCH THE TERROR
OF A LITTLE BIT ON THAT, AND DECLARE VICTORY FOR 30,000 JOBS.
I LIKE THAT YOU BROUGHT UP A LITTLE BIT OF THE INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS COMPONENT OF THIS, BECAUSE IT ALSO SHOWS ANOTHER
FLAW IN THE WAY THAT TRUMP HANDLES THINGS.
ON THE ONE HAND, YOU WILL HEAR HIM SAYING SOME PRETTY UNSAVORY
THINGS ABOUT MEXICO'S PRESIDENT, IN REGARD TO BUILDING THE
WALL AND IMMIGRATION AND ALL OF THAT.
HE'LL SAY OFFENSIVE THINGS, HE'LL SPEAK OFF-THE-CUFF WITHOUT
THINKING ABOUT IT AHEAD OF TIME, AND THEN STUFF LIKE THIS COMES
UP, AND HE WANTS TO RENEGOTIATE NAFTA, WELL, YOU NEED TO HAVE
SOME SORT OF DIPLOMACY WITH YOUR INTERACTIONS WITH WORLD LEADERS.
HE DOESN'T SEEM TO GET THAT.
HE SO USED TO BEING GIVEN EVERYTHING HE WANTS THAT I
FEEL LIKE HE IS BLINDSIDED SOMETIMES.
LIKE WHEN THE FEDERAL JUDGES BLOCK HIM FROM DOING WHAT
HE WANTS TO DO IN HIS EXECUTIVE ORDERS, HE SEEMS BEFUDDLED.
THAT BOLSTERS YOUR POINT.
YOU GET THE FEELING THAT MEXICO AND CANADA ARE LIKE, WHAT THE
FUCK IS THIS GUY DOING?
AND YOU GET THE FEELING THAT LEADERS IN CONGRESS ARE
DOING THAT WITH THEMSELVES AS WELL.
I'M SURE PAUL RYAN AND MITCH MCCONNELL HAVE LATE-NIGHT
CONVERSATIONS THAT ARE REALLY DULL, BUT THEY ARE SAYING
THE EXACT SAME THING.
AND THAT'S WHAT'S HAPPENING, SO I THINK YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY
RIGHT, AND IT HAPPENS AT HOME TOO.