I have had dickish bosses like this.
headline: Chinese Trade Delegation Resuscitated After Fainting From Repressed Laughter
Still thinks heās doing the Apprentice. When Chinese diplomats laugh at you in front of cameras youāre in trouble.
Iāve only had one dickish ppresident like this.
Thatās IndividualOne more than neededā¦
Pretty bad when even the non-English speakers know youāre BS-ing.
They were wondering why it sounded like Donnie was reading verbatim from fortune cookies, including the lucky lottery numbersā¦
Lighthizer responded, contradicting Trump: āAn MOU is a contract. Itās the way trade agreements are generally viewed. People refer to it like itās a term sheet. Itās not a term sheet. Itās an actual contract between the two parties.ā
āBy the way, I disagree,ā Trump said, to laughter from Liu.
āFrom now on, weāre not using the word āmemorandum of understandingā anymore,ā a clearly exasperated Lighthizer responded. āWeāre going to use the term ātrade agreement,ā alright?ā
āOkay,ā Liu said back.
Apparently Trump still thinks heās putting together real estate deals, hears MOA and not only thinks heās got this, but in his own very special (read: ignorant and smug, always a repellant combination) style sets about to school everyone in the room. Cringeworthy, except itās, well, him.
Lighthizer calmly and correctly explained what an MOU is, and Trump still doesnāt understand - or maybe he does and just didnāt want to get shown up. So, the terminology to use going forward is changed on the spot to appease and reward the petulant child. Iām surprised Lighthizer did this and took the risk of authoritarian wrath, but he probably wanted to emphasize to the Chinese reps and the media that actual, enforceable deals were being made.
Trump was probably thinking back to his signed letter of intent for the Trump Tower Moscow that went nowhere.
You gotta give it up for Lighthizer. Probably be tweet-shamed shortly.
If a great deal isnāt made, weāll know who to blame - even if Trump blows up an agreement.
Sigh.
Itās very difficult to get to a memorandum of understanding with a foreign country when Trump appears to have a memorandum of misunderstanding with his own staff and various agencies.
Got to say Lighthizer was pretty quick on his feet there, renaming the desired outcome of the negotiation on the fly while Trump was busy humping his leg.
Whatever comes of this, there at least will not be an understanding.
I am at a loss to remember how many times I have characterized Donald Trump as a stupid, self-serving and dangerous dick head.
Always nice to have the leader of the free world laughed at to his face by the global power who basically owns our debt
I think youāre exactly right, that Trump thinks that a āMemorandum of Understandingā is nothing more than a letter of intent. And heās just too fucking stupid, not to mention stubborn, to accept the truth.
Whatās even more interesting is that he thinks that letters of intent are worthless, which tells you everything you need to know about his business practices.
Exactly
āI understand everything better than everyone, but donāt understand the understanding thing. Can we not deal with it at all, please Lighty?ā
āSure, boss. If thatās what your level of intellect requiresā¦ā