Emmanuel, you are going to do it
Emmanuel Macron, the French president, was literally put on the mat, according to Donald Trump, the US president. In an anecdote that Trump told during the much-awaited speech at Davos (World Economic Forum), he twisted Macron’s hand so hard that the latter acquiesced to a seemingly-impossible proposition. This is America’s new tactic to get things done. Use the extreme threat of tariffs to get virtually anything such as more investment inflows, more exports, and more domestic jobs. The context was how Trump’s ability to get the most-favoured-nation status from others was remarkably and dramatically different from what the past presidents did.
A pill, or medicine, that costs $10 in London, Trump was told, was priced at $130 in New York, or Los Angeles. This was because America subsidised the others, and past presidents allowed “them to get away with it.” The president was told by big pharma, which fell in line, that he would never get the nations to approve a hike in the price in their respective market, so that it comes down in the US. Trump countered: “They will approve it, 100 per cent.”
While telling the story, Trump added that he liked Emmanuel, “who probably is in the room. I actually like him, Hard to believe, isn’t it?” In any case, Trump told Macron that he will need to lift the price of the pill from $10 to $20, or even $30. “No, no, no, Donald, I will not do that.” Trump insisted that he would. “You have been taking advantage of the United States for 30 years with prescription drugs,” says Trump. “No, no, no, you are asking me to double (the price).” Trump re-insisted, “You are going to do it. You are going to do it fast.”
At this stage, the extreme tariff threat entered the scenario. “If you do not, I am putting a 25 per cent tariff on everything that you sell into the United States. And a 100 per cent tariff on your wines and champagne. And that is about ten times more than what I am requesting. And you are going to do it.” According to Trump, he tried the same tactics with leaders from the other nations. On average, it took him three minutes to make them do his bidding.
Each one said several times, “No, no, no, I will not do it.” Trump insisted each time, “You will do it (or else).” Sometimes, it was 25 per cent extra tariff, sometimes 30, 50, “I gave different numbers for different countries,” Trump revealed. “And every one of those countries have agreed to do it. We are not going to subsidise the whole world. As far as the Macron incident was concerned, Trump said that the price of the pill in the US will come down by 90 per cent, or “20 per cent (which) depends on the way you want to figure it out. But we will go with the way the fake news (media) likes it.”
Another example of how Trump changed the world operates lies in the story about, what he dubs, “Perhaps the greatest hoax in history, the Green New scam.” In a bid to give up fossil fuels, and adopt green energy in the name of Climate Change, Trump revealed, European nations produce less energy than before. Germany produces 22 per cent less than in 2017. The UK produces a third of what it did in 1999. “And they are sitting on top of the North Sea, one of greatest (fossil fuel) reserves anywhere in the world,” claimed Trump.
Instead of oil wells, and pipelines, there are windmills all over Europe. “One thing I have noticed is that the more windmills a country has, the more money that country loses, and the worse that country is doing,” said Trump. The windmills, according to him, “Destroy your land. Every time that (windmill) goes around, you lose $1,000. You are supposed to make money with energy, not lose money.” America’s arch rival, China, is the biggest beneficiary of Europe’s fascination for the windmills, and green energy.
“China makes all the windmills, and yet I have not been able to find any wind farms in China. They are smart. China is very smart. They make them. They sell them for a fortune. They sell them to the stupid people that buy them, but they do not use them,” revealed Trump. Instead, smart China goes with coal, and uses oil and gas. “They (Chinese) are shocked that it (windmills) continues to go. They are shocked that people continue to buy those damn things.” In Europe, the windmills kill the birds, they ruin the landscapes. “Other than that,” said Trump, “I think they (windmills) are fabulous.
Not so in America. Under Trump, because of fossil fuels, the price of gasoline is down from $5-7 a gallon to $2.5, $2,3 in most states. “Then, we will soon be averaging less than $2 a gallon in many places. It is already down even lower, $1.95 a gallon. Numerous states are at $1.99. Numbers that nobody has heard for years. Actually, since my last administration, we got it down around those numbers,” said Trump. Just as he was making the speech came the headlines, “US natural gas price surge 45 per cent in two days.”
Of course, he could not stop mentioning how many global wars he has stopped. Eight in one year. “Vladimir Putin (of Russia) called me (about Armenia, Azerbaijan, and others). He said, ‘I cannot believe you settled all that one, they were going on for 35 years. I have worked… for 10 years to settle it. I could not do it.’” More importantly, his focus was on the Russia-Ukraine war, a mess that Trump inherited, and which “would have never happened (if he was in power). And I know Putin well. He and I would discuss Ukraine. It was the apple of his eyes, but he was not going to do anything.”
As the US president explained, “I (would have) said, Vladimir, you are not doing it. He would never have done it.” The war would be over before it started. Like, Trump warned, he would give instructions to the domestic defense industry. He will ban stock buybacks (when firms use their cash reserves to buy back outstanding shares at premiums to reward shareholders) by the defense companies. “And all the money that goes into stock buybacks is going to go into building plants. They are going to build new plants to make Tomahawks, Patriots.” This will Make America Great Again.
