1st panel: Trump bets all his money. Normally this is done either if you are confident you will win (like if you have a winning hand). Or if you are trying to win by bluffing (lying by signaling that you have a winning hand when you don’t have one). But a good player would only bluff if they thought the other player has little chance of having a winning hand, especially if betting all chips. Ideally, you would only go all in if you had a low chance of having a winning hand but somehow got one and the other player thinks you’re bluffing so they stay in the game.
2nd panel: Xi calls Trump’s bluff and bets all of his money as well, because he knows he will win.
3rd panel: Trump realizes that his bluff was called and he will probably lose.
4th panel: Trump forfeits all his money to Xi. There is now no way to get his chips back. It would be better to continue to play on the off chance that Xi was bluffing and they both have bad hands but Trump’s was slightly stronger than Xis. At the very least it would reveal if Xi was bluffing or not and what his hand was. However by folding not only does he give all his money to Xi but he also learns nothing about his opponents strategies.
Basically this is something the worst poker player in the world might do.
Implementing the tariffs has destroyed the US’ credibility as a trade partner.
They’ve doubled down with the tariffs on China.
Trump specifically has lost all credibility as a negotiator. Everyone knows he will fold if he can find a way out that allows him to at least say that he won.
Actually, the worldwide tariffs may have accelerated worldwide dedollarization. The world may move away from considering the American dollar the most safe and stable currency. That would impact the US’s ability to borrow by increasing interest rates for bonds, spiking the national debt. This is what is believed to have spooked Trump into “pausing” tariffs at 10% or whatever the fuck he’s saying now.
Basically this is something the worst poker player in the world might do.
Has Trump ceded any money to Xi? He did go all in but hasn’t he taken it almost all out again?
No.
Implementing the tariffs has destroyed the US’ credibility as a trade partner.
They’ve doubled down with the tariffs on China.
Trump specifically has lost all credibility as a negotiator. Everyone knows he will fold if he can find a way out that allows him to at least say that he won.
The damage will take decades to correct.
Actually, the worldwide tariffs may have accelerated worldwide dedollarization. The world may move away from considering the American dollar the most safe and stable currency. That would impact the US’s ability to borrow by increasing interest rates for bonds, spiking the national debt. This is what is believed to have spooked Trump into “pausing” tariffs at 10% or whatever the fuck he’s saying now.