The Emperor’s New Trade Deal

Paul Krugman: “On Tuesday Donald Trump went on CNBC to explain why the European Union is facing a tariff of ‘only’ 15 percent. But what he said was simply delusional — and the delusion should be even more concerning than the tariffs.”

“The Europeans, Trump asserted, had agreed to cough up $600 billion, which he described as a ‘gift,’ not a loan. And he emphasized that this is ‘$600 billion to invest in anything I want. Anything. I can do anything I want with it.’”

“So Trump apparently believes that the European Union has agreed to provide him with a personal $600 billion slush fund.”

“In fact, as I pointed out after the ‘deal’ was announced, the EU agreed to no such thing. In fact, it literally couldn’t have made such an agreement. European nations aren’t command economies in which government can tell the private sector where to invest, and in any case the European Commission, which negotiated with Trump, can’t tell the governments of member states what to do.”

“So think of it as the emperor’s new trade deal: Trump is strutting around, feeling very impressed with himself, but in substantive terms he’s stark naked.”