In June 2019, Donald Trump threatened Mexico with a series of punitive trade tariffs. The then-president withdrew shortly afterwards, claiming that he had achieved a series of policy victories as a result of his ultimatum towards America’s neighbor.
At the time, the Republican seemed eager to pat himself on the back, claiming that Mexico, desperate to avoid tariffs, had agreed to impose dramatic new restrictions on immigrants trying to reach U.S. soil, and had promised to “immediately begin buying new import tariffs’. large quantities of agricultural products” from American farmers. Just as remarkably, Trump said the bilateral agreement included secret benefits that he was unwilling to disclose.
However, upon closer inspection, the whole story was torn apart. Mexico had not agreed to new restrictions on immigrants; there were no new agricultural purchases; and when the Mexican foreign minister was asked about the secret benefits Trump was referring to, he said he had no idea what the US president was talking about.
It appears that the Republican has backed himself into a corner and implemented a tariff threat that he did not actually want to implement. So, in a face-saving move, Trump made an illusory deal — assuming the public wouldn’t know the difference — to give himself an excuse to back away from a threat he hadn’t fully thought through. in the first place.
More than five years later, something similar appears to have happened. NBC News reported:
In what appears to be a case of “he said, she said,” newly elected President Donald Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum appear to have starkly different memories of a conversation that touched on the hot-button issue of migration. After the phone call late Wednesday, Trump wrote on social media that the Mexican leader had agreed to stop immigration through Mexico and into the United States.
Some context is in order. Seven days ago, the Republican president-elect pledged to impose new trade tariffs on imported goods from each of the United States’ three largest trading partners. Trump specifically raised the prospect of a 25% tariff on “ALL products” from Mexico – adding that the policy would remain in place until he is satisfied that “Drugs” and “all illegal aliens” are no longer reaching US soil .
Two days later, Trump published an item on his social media platform claiming that there had been a breakthrough of sorts: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, he said, “agreed to stop migration through Mexico and into the United States, allowing our southern border.”
Sheinbaum released a statement shortly afterwards saying largely the opposite, denying a major policy change and making clear that her country has no interest in closing the border.
Nevertheless, Republicans act as if Trump’s imaginary triumph is worth celebrating. For example, Senator Joni Ernst stated that the President-elect “has done more to secure the border in the last 30 days than President Biden has done in the last four years.” A day earlier, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas also credited Trump, saying his tariff threat “led immediately… to action.”
But none of this is true. The number of border crossings has fallen largely due to policies adopted long before last week. The new Mexican concessions that the president-elect and his party are enthusiastic about do not exist in reality.
Or put another way: Mexico has agreed to do what it was already doing, and Trump and his allies now want credit for developments they had nothing to do with, pointing to a tariff threat that is increasingly looking like a bluff.
It led Matt Yglesias to conclude: “Trump creating a fake crisis with Mexico over bogus tariff threats, then resolving it in exchange for bogus concessions during a holiday week when he’s not even in office yet, is a reminder of how tiring and yet boring this will take four full years.”
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
