President Donald Trump kicked off this morning by tweeting about the U.S.’s trade war with China, which the president insisted was… not a trade war, despite the back-and-forth of retaliatory tariffs in the past few weeks.
His reasoning? The war is already over.
We are not in a trade war with China, that war was lost many years ago by the foolish, or incompetent, people who represented the U.S. Now we have a Trade Deficit of $500 Billion a year, with Intellectual Property Theft of another $300 Billion. We cannot let this continue!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 4, 2018
Although he claimed we’d already lost the war, Trump followed that up with a slightly contradictory tweet that said in this fight (which is not a war?), America can’t lose.
When you’re already $500 Billion DOWN, you can’t lose!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 4, 2018
That dubious swagger of a down-on-his-luck gambler immediately caught the internet’s attention.
https://twitter.com/lachlan/status/981522781367095297
Trump, people were swift to note, bankrupted several casinos in his time as a real estate magnate.
If you asked how somebody could go broke running casinos, you have your answer. https://t.co/ZLyRdAKHJ2
— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) April 4, 2018
imagine this guy running a casino of some sort https://t.co/O0Znl8A1mY
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) April 4, 2018
How did Donald Trump manage to lose money running a casino? The answer is coming into focus https://t.co/IfiJo1Fyog
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen) April 4, 2018
Casino-owner Trade Policy https://t.co/ZDE0ClHkPE
— Scott Lincicome (@scottlincicome) April 4, 2018
REMINDER: Trump has declared bankruptcy 6 times https://t.co/WyOIQz4c2U
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 4, 2018
Though Trump certainly seemed to believe America will win this, Twitter wasn’t so sure.
You'll find a way. https://t.co/NzdCP3t9Oo
— John Levenstein (@johnlevenstein) April 4, 2018
Since Trump’s original tariffs announcement in March, the stock market has been tumbling downward, with the Dow Jones falling 1,000 points. The Dow dipped more than 350 at the start of trading Wednesday morning after China announced new tariffs on U.S. products.