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Trump’s breakthrough deal with Mexico turns into a mirage

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Putting his tariff threat on indefinite hold, Trump is arguably in an even worse position now than when he launched this gambit in the first place.
Donald Trump made an audacious threat a couple of weeks ago, declaring his intention to impose harsh trade sanctions on Mexico unless our southern neighbors “substantially stopped the illegal inflow of aliens coming through its territory.” Those new taxes were scheduled to take effect today.
At least for now, that policy is on indefinite hold: the American president announced late Friday that his administration and Mexico “reached a signed agreement.” At first blush, this may look like a clear victory for Trump’s controversial strategy.
After all, the president took a gamble by threatening an ally and risking the health of his own country’s economy, but as a result of Trump’s tactics, the White House says Mexico is taking new steps to stem immigration, including deploying national guard troops.
Doesn’t this count as a presidential tantrum getting results? Do Republican loyalists touting this as a success story have a point? Alas, no. The New York Timesreported on a nagging detail: Mexico had already promised to take these actions before Trump issued his threat.

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