CHINA/MEDIA/NAFTA/TARIFFS/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “According to previews of Bob Woodward’s new book, ‘Fear,’ former top White House economic adviser Gary Cohn headed off President Trump’s efforts to withdraw from both the U.S.-South Korea trade deal and NAFTA by simply removing the notices from his desk before he could sign them. ‘I can stop this,’ Cohn reportedly said. ‘I’ll just take the paper off his desk.’ Trump apparently never noticed. Still, those anecdotes — while not the most explosive tidbits in Woodward’s reporting — underscore the president’s level of seriousness in wanting to rip up trade deals as Canada negotiates with the administration on a new NAFTA. Trade tensions with China are also poised to heighten further as the administration prepares to put new tariffs on another $200 billion in Chinese goods. Strap in for a bumpy ride…According to Woodward, Trump also told Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross: ‘I don’t trust you. I don’t want you doing any more negotiations. … You’re past your prime.’ That tracks with POLITICO reporting from back in May that Ross had largely been sidelined in trade negotiations with China. WH Press Secretary Sarah Sanders referred to the book as ‘nothing more than fabricated stories, many by former disgruntled employees, told to make the President look bad.’”
–Victoria Guida and Aubree Eliza Weaver, “Trump and Fear,” Politico, September 5, 2018 8:00 am