Why?
Donald Trump is the best negotiator in American politics because he is a student of Sun Tzu.
Sometime in high school when he was the captain of his class at New York Military, someone handed Trump a copy of "The Art of War."
All his success stems from that ancient text that dates to the sixth century before Christ.
If you know that book, then you know The Donald.
Here is the quote that applies to the DACA negotiation.
Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.That means he already has figured out how to win.
I would say he has figured out two ways to win. The obvious way to win is to reach an agreement and win. The less obvious way to win is to break negotiations and walk away. Reagan did the latter at Reykjavik in 1986.
Ann Coulter is smart but not wise. She thinks deeply about the superficial, and is superficially about the deep.
Her prediction in 2015 that Trump would become the next president was just to get a laugh on the Bill Maher show. Some conservatives seek to please liberals. She seeks to outrage them.
But she also sees the history of Republicans being lousy negotiators, so her alarm is not without foundation. People act in logical ways, and once you understand where they are coming from, you better appreciate their struggle.
Trump figured out how to grant amnesty to 800,000 people he cannot easily deport and get all the rest he wants. That's the deal. Democrats will high-five and exclaim how they won -- while the wall goes up, the barrios are cleansed of illegals, and chain migration ends.
If he does not get that, he walks away, and Democrats have to face their supporters who are watching a wall go up and illegals deported.
He won the battle both ways going in. Ending chain migration is the big prize, which is why he'll cut a deal.
Best of all, Democrats have two months to decide. He gave DACA a six-month extension that ends in March. The clock ticks.
Trump has no winning plan on Obamacare.
He thought Republicans had one. That's why he appointed Tom Price as health and human services secretary. When Trump realized the Price was not right, Trump leaked stories about Price's travel and forced him to resign.
One mark of a great soldier is that he fight on his own terms or fights not at all.President Trump may or may not eventually get to Obamacare.
But once he engages in that battle, rest assured he will have won.
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The first was "Trump the Press," which covered his nomination.
The second was "Trump the Establishment," which covered his election.
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As always, Make America Great Again.
That's the problem with Republicans like Coulter. They want a pitched battle like when the two sides wade into each other in 'Braveheart'. Win or lose, they want stories of "remembered fight". They've been happy with trench warfare with the occasional "hero" running across no man's land into the teeth of the Leftist Maxims.
ReplyDeleteTrump, on the other hand, knows they've got withering fire. So he draws his opponents out into a field, then occupies their castle and remodels it while they are lining up for volleys.
Very nice analogy! Well put, and I agree!
DeleteAgree, happy new year. "Q"
DeleteThe republicans never fought until Trump came along. Some of them still don't fight. They just talk. The dems will fight to the death and the republicans talk and cave. Until now.
DeleteWELL said!
DeleteLike
DeleteI get the impression that, rather than figuring out a path to victory, Trump constructs a strategy tree wherein ALL paths lead to victory.
ReplyDeleteAmazing he does this while the MSM all week is quoting the book that calls him an illiterate brain damaged fool. MAGA
DeleteExcellent observation about Coulter on the Maher show. I've seen that clip a dozen times ("Four who predicted Trump winning!!") and she's not predicting, she's trolling.
ReplyDeleteOverall I like her but sure, she's an entertainer and satirist. She reminds me of humorist Dave Barry. Dave will take some oddball news item, state "I am not making this up" and proceed to riff on the item, making stuff up by the bushel load. Ann Coulter's writings follow that pattern exactly, she's the Dave Barry of conservative humor.
JimNorCal, Deplorable SurBot
Maher asked her a question and she answered it correctly. She had written a best selling book about immigration, given a copy to Trump and discussed immigration policy with him prior to him running.
DeleteIt was a foundation in his campaign and despite all of his flaws, a major item he distinguished himself from the other republican candidates on the day he announced. Unlike his republican competitors running for president, he correctly identified a topic that resonated with voters.
For YEARS prior to Trump running, Coulter had said repeatedly that the republicans needed a candidate who would take a hard line on illegal immigration to win.
Her prediction was bold and consistent with her articles, books and multiple interviews leading up to the election. Just because she tweaked the liberal, pro Maher audience as a bonus by the way she said it with a smirk doesn't mean it was a brainless troll.
Perhaps next time you should read one of her books before making a wildly inaccurate statement about her.
> Ann Coulter is smart but not wise. She thinks deeply about the superficial, and is superficially about the deep.
ReplyDeleteThe money quote.
Yup
DeleteArticle was spot on.
ReplyDeleteIf President Trump was black, the MSM would be hailing him as the Magic Man.
He has a way of creating confusion and getting people up in the air, so he is the only one left standing. At that point his objectives appear to be reasonable.
The question now is, what's next? Infrastructure? Welfare Reform? Something else? All that will be done in the background with Dem/Deep State corruption taking center stage in 2018 (which assures the Dems in Congress will remain airborne). As Larry noted today - notice that Bannon has now been branded as "Sloppy Steve", but there is no nickname for Sessions or Mueller.
- Ken
One of my sons told me Trump would win not only the nomination, but the presidency shortly after he announced in 2015. This same son has the same take on all this you do.
ReplyDeleteChain migration is the big one. Trump is offering to make a deal on a million souls knowing that if the Dems bite they are canceling the compound interest bearing account, which they may lose anyway.
This is like Daddy offering a dollar a week allowance vs a penny the first week and doubling it thereafter, only the offer is which one do you want to lose.
If they take DACA and give up on chain migration and the wall they win points and lose the war. If they say no they alienate much of their own base.
I think they puts around and end up with no deal and Trump goes on to build and stop chain migration anyway. If they think this, they might want to pick DACA behind door number three and get their buddies in the press to try and get Trump's base alienated. But people hate the press so much will they allow themselves to be fooled? I doubt it.
Goodie! What’s the winning formula for Mexico paying for the wall as promised? Wait? That wasn’t true?
ReplyDeleteMexico *will* pay for the wall, Anon. That's always been the easiest part of the whole project. All Trump has to do is to impose a tax on monies being wired to Mexico (mostly by illegals). Pulling out of NAFTA and raising tariffs on Mexico would also do the trick, but that would take a bit more effort and a bit more cooperation from Congress.
DeleteI was reviewing Sun Tzu's most famous maxims recently and found myself going "That's Trump. That's Trump. That, too."
ReplyDeleteSpot on.
The key word in this classic book is WAR. More than anyone since The Gipper, Mr. T understands that the Proggies really do want to kill us, rape our women, and enslave our children. DC Reepubs just want a glowing article in the WaPo. Big difference.
DeleteIt's wonderful how the Dems and their minion enemedia are SO convinced that they can outsmart Trump. Heh. Heh. Heh.
ReplyDeleteI do admire Sun-Tzu, but President Trump also seems to have read "The Prince," by Machiavelli. He covers interpersonal dealings as opposed to moving armies. President Trump may seem brash to many, but that is a screen for his subtlety. - Elric
ReplyDeleteAgree. Coulter just mouths off what is considered outrageous at the time. No depth to her analysis.
ReplyDeleteToo bad Trump is not also pushing to end Birth Right Citizenship, which an equal travesty to Chain Migration.
ReplyDeleteEmpty petty victories like this count as leadership. Trump will be the end of the republic.
ReplyDelete