"Deal Maker" Trump Botches Another One (Jerusalem)

But since having been elected President, the savvy deal-making anticipated by his supporters has been noticeably absent. It is not an overstatement to say that Mr. Trump has looked like an amateur on the world stage, making decisions that frequently cause world leaders to shake their heads and laugh.

The latest instance of this is the Trump decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The Israelis have been pushing the US to adopt this position for years, but no US President has been willing to do so. Why? Because our Presidents knew, like the rest of the world did, that such a decision would fan the flames of violence in the Middle East, trigger more terrorism, and make a lasting peace even harder to achieve.

(Jerusalem image from Huffpost.com)

Apparently Mr. Trump either does not recognize this or does not care. But here's where he made an even bigger mistake: if he was dead-set on recognizing Jerusalem, and knowing how badly Israel wanted it and how badly the Arabs were against it, why didn't he use this decision as a bargaining chip in a deal that elicited some concessions from one of these parties?

For example, he could have told the Israelis, if you want Jerusalem, then make the following concessions toward the peace process. And if the Israelis wouldn't bite, he could have told the Arabs, if you don't want me to recognize Jerusalem, then make the following concessions toward the peace process. In either case, he could have struck a deal to benefit both the region and the world and also given himself a valid reason to pat himself on the back.

But he didn't. Instead, he just unilaterally gave away a huge bargaining chip and got nothing for it. The Israelis probably are laughing at how bad of a negotiator Mr. Trump really is and the Arabs are angrier than ever at the Israelis and at Mr. Trump, who they probably view as an even larger Israeli dupe than they thought before.

So why did he make such a decision? If you've studied Mr. Trump at all, then it's probably for two main reasons: One, he seems to have an underlying need for the publicity that comes from doing and saying things that are different than the conventional wisdom, and then trying to justify it by saying/implying he's smarter than everyone else…even when he's making a bad decision or a bad deal. Two, he isn't very sophisticated when it comes to foreign policy and understanding motivations of people outside of his only sphere of expertise, i.e., real estate development; consequently, he didn't even realize what a great bargaining chip he had in his hand.

(image from globalfinancial.info

And this is not the first such blunder Mr. Trump has made as President. Unilaterally withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement was another. We say this not on the merits of whether that action was warranted or not, but because the Chinese also were not happy with our having signed that agreement. Which means the handling of the US position on TPP was another deal-making opportunity for Mr. Trump, one in which he could have used the US withdrawal from the agreement as leverage; in this case, to extract trade concessions from the Chinese: We'll pull out of the TPP, if you will....{fill in the blank}.

But no, during the first week of his Presidency, Mr. Trump couldn't wait to announce the US would begin withdrawing from the agreement, thereby throwing away another strong bargaining chip and getting nothing in return. The Chinese must have said to themselves, thank you, Donald, and then silently laughed at his naiveté.

We can only hope that Mr. Trump will learn from mistakes like these but, unfortunately, there have been no indications that he is capable of growing into the job he now holds. If you feel differently, definitely drop us a note and tell us why.