Washington • President Trump is conducting his trade war with China as if it were a zero-sum game, but it’s not. It’s a negative-sum game. Both sides lose.
It's clear at this point that Trump's ill-advised gambit of tariffs and bombast is hurting both economies. The question is who can more stoically withstand the pain — an autocrat with a mandate to rule indefinitely over a tightly controlled one-party state, or a democratically elected president with dismal approval numbers who must face voters in 14 months.
I think I know the answer. I think most people do, except Trump.