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Opinion | From China trade to North Korea and immigration, Trump’s poker player diplomacy leaves the US with many aces up its sleeve
Michael Chugani says the US president’s erratic negotiating style has come in for criticism but has proved to be one of his strengths
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Why you can trust SCMP
Are you among those who believe steely Xi Jinping will outlast mercurial Donald Trump in the US-China trade war? Do you nod when people say North Korean strongman Kim Jong-un outfoxed Trump at the Singapore summit? I don’t blame you.
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Everyone, from experts to my part-time domestic helper, is mocking Trump as a political toddler who can’t grasp how our globalised world works. Do you think he gives a darn about the pre-Trump globalised world? He has nothing but scorn for it.
Trump wants the world to work his way. Those who refuse are shown the highway. He backs his bravado with the world’s most powerful military, the biggest economy, the most advanced technology and the greatest wealth.
But his most potent power comes not from his big nuclear button but from his loyal supporters. His approval rating is a jaw-dropping 90 per cent among Republican voters. It takes one tweet for them to do his bidding.
People who conclude Kim won and Xi will win are using pre-Trump logic. Big mistake. Trump flushed that logic down the toilet the day he became president. His only logic is to say one thing, do something else, then undo it, and say something else.
Watch: By the numbers – the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore
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