Read about J. Edgar Hoover and Martin Luther King Jr.:
What does this have to do with the specific hypothesis you posted about in your OP? How does this answer anyone’s objections, specifically naita’s? Why should we believe your blackmail hypothesis when there are so many more obvious reasons for Trump to reverse course of the TPP, many of which have been posted in this thread?
I have been trying to dispell the “no, because it would be unprecedented” argument. I rather like the: “he is just being a two-faced politician” angle. Where did I say I was convinced one way or the other?
Well, anything’s possible. It’s possible he’s being blackmailed and it’s possible he reversed course because Marvin the Martian threatened him with an illudium pu-36 space modulator if he didn’t sign the TPP. But probably the best explanations are in posts 2 and 5.
the op is trying to get some kind of ‘deep state’ conspiracy going
The thing is, if you weren’t a person seriously predisposed to conspiracy theories, there’s no way you would have asked the question. What the heck does the chemical attack in Syria have to do with TPP? Or the FBI raid?
Trump the candidate was against both, and one of the first things he did in office was withdraw from the TPP:
The recent news of these two reverals, just after the FBI raid, led me to wonder about the question up for debate. No one is arguing “Yes”, which is a relief. I am getting sick of providing historical and current event info though.
Do you believe J. Edgar Hoover is in charge of the FBI today? Or that Christopher Wray has amassed the same kind of power in 8 months that Hoover got from running FBI’s precursor for 11 years, basically create the FBI and then run that for two decades before Martin Luther King Jr. did anything Hoover would notice? Or is it that you fear some other shadow puppeteer that can wield the FBI for their own benefit?
I don’t need to find an exact historical parallel to dismiss the “no precedent” answer.
Again, there is no reason to connect the events.
I hope there is no connection. Your question “What the heck does the chemical attack in Syria have to do with TPP?” makes me doubt you understood me. I never connected those two with each other directly. I was noting Trump reversing on both of them shortly after the raid. I assume you mean there is no reason to connect the raid to Trump reversing positions. Again, I hope you are right.
The Trump style of “negotiation” really doesn’t work in the context of a multi-national organization such as the TPP.
What are the chances that Trump would coalesce a consistent and lasting trade policy with the TPP partners?
The minute they don’t all toady all he’s got in his arsenal is personal insults and easily recognized fake data.
And, he’s never respected policy in the first place.
Regardless of ANY other aspects, he would shun the TPP just on that basis alone.
I hope it’s not blackmail as well. Let’s list the key players in this liberal elite conspiracy:
Attorney General Jeff Sessions ®
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein ®
Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller ®
FBI Director Jim Comey ®
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman ®
Man, those guys are everywhere.
I have no idea what this has to do with what I posted, but I will try to explain.
Trump is currently mad at China and provoking a trade war. The TPP provides a way to increase US influence in the Pacific at China’s expense. Thus Trump currently supports it. Tomorrow he may decide that Xi Jinping is his buddy and will again oppose it, but today he supports it. It is just that simple. Most of your points are irrelevant and incoherent.
The deep state is deep, man. adds additional layer of tinfoil
What exactly is the blackmail about? Extramarital affairs? Trump’s first such was all over the NY Post at the time. Stormy Daniels? Why bow to blackmail after the story is out?
You think the FBI cares about TPP or Syria? If they are ganging up on Trump, maybe because it is due to Trump dissing them after the Comey firing? (Not a good idea when you have secrets.) BTW, do you think Trump’s double change of opinion on gun control came from blackmail?
If there is blackmail afoot, it is coming from Putin and involves videos and loans from Russian banks and dirty money.
Of course a unified approach with the TPP11 would carry more weight than the US alone. That’s one reason for having these trade deals.
But, it also means that the TPP will decide on sanctions, not just Trump. So, when he woofs at China, China will be looking at the TPP. Plus, when the sanctions turn out not to be that great for the US, the TPP11 isn’t going to just jump and make things all better for Trump.
And, it’s not just that simple. The TPP11 dropped more than 20 US-favorable items before they signed. Members are stating opposition to tossing their agreement and going back to negotiations.
Beyond that, Trump is not a policy guy (and thus sees policy as blocking what he wants to do) and tends not to approach international issues through working with allies.
Even his own party in congress has a hard time working with him. Now, he’s proposing to work with 11 other nations???
Please!
Well, yeah, but you are over thinking it. Trump’s thought is more like
“China bad! TPP hurt China! TPP good!”
Who knows what he will think tomorrow.
I see that as tinfoil hat territory.
Unlikely. There are precious few things that Trump is consistent about, but he’s been harping on “China is unfair” for decades. Long before anyone even knew who Obama was. And TPP looked like another way for China to “take advantage” of us.