They help him turn the page on a rough last couple of weeks. But in the long run, do they pay off? Or do they backfire?
First Read is your briefing from Meet the Press and the NBC Political Unit on the day’s most important political stories and why they matter
WASHINGTON — Thursday was Vintage Trump. In the span of a few hours, President Trump and the White House announced 1) new tariffs on steel and aluminum (with exceptions for Canada and Mexico), and 2) that they had accepted an invitation to meet face-to-face with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
The moves were bold, brash and big. But they also were two breathtaking gambles that could pay off — or could prove to be costly for the United States.
On tariffs, Trump’s action appeared more to fulfill a campaign promise and have a deliverable to take to the Pittsburgh area on Saturday, when he campaigns for Republican Rick Saccone in the upcoming PA-18 special election. (If it was purely about protecting the steel industry, why exempt Canada, which is the biggest steel exporter to the U. S.?)
But the gamble here is that Trump’s move would spark a trade war with the rest of the world, which could drive up prices on goods — cutting into the benefits of the recently passed tax law.
On North Korea, the news “provides a chance to resolve the state of war that has divided the Korean Peninsula since the 1953 armistice, and eliminate the threat of a nuclear conflict, plus Kim’s promise to halt missile and nuclear tests while talks are underway,” NBC’s Andrea Mitchell writes .
But the gamble here is if the Trump administration is getting played – and is elevating Kim Jong Un in the process. “North Korea has been seeking a summit with an American president for more than twenty years. It has literally been a top foreign policy goal of Pyongyang since Kim Jong Il invited Bill Clinton,” arms-control expert Jeffrey Lewis tweeted. “I wonder if Trump’s ‘aides’ have explained that to him.”
The Washington Post adds, “Just by sitting down with President Trump, Kim Jong Un will get what he craves the most: legitimacy. He wants to be treated as an equal by the global superpower, and a photo opportunity with the most powerful leader in the free world will go a long way to helping him achieve that.
