One of the weirdest myths in contemporary politics is that Trump is great at deal-making.

This has never been true; it’s certainly not true now; and it's long past time for the myth to go away.

As a result, there have been a grand total of zero new trade deals since Navarro’s “90 deals in 90 days” comment. As The New York Times reported, this is part of a broader pattern.

President Trump came into office promising to strike “big, beautiful” deals. He quickly opened a dizzying number of negotiations to, naming just a few of his aims, end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours, bring peace to the Middle East and usher in dozens of trade deals in record time. ... But so far, the goals of many of Mr. Trump’s negotiations have been unrealized, even those that he said would be accomplished in days or weeks.

For all the chest-thumping about the deals he’d reach — in Ukraine, in the Middle East, with China and other trading partners, et al. — the president’s list of second-term successes is, at least for now, blank.

One of the weirdest myths in contemporary politics is that Trump is a world-class dealmaker. This has never been true, and it’s certainly not true now. And yet, many act as if the myth were an undeniable fact of modern American life.....

But the evidence of Trump actually succeeding on this front does not exist. There were literally zero instances in which he successfully brought Democratic and Republican leaders together and negotiated a major legislative breakthrough ahead of his 2020 defeat. Indeed, toward the end of his first term, Trump largely gave up on even trying to make deals with Congress, and in the opening months of his second term, we’ve seen more of the same.

The Washington Post reported in August 2020, “The president who pitched himself to voters as the consummate negotiator and ultimate dealmaker has repeatedly found his strategies flummoxed by the complexities and pressures of Washington lawmaking.” This came on the heels of the Post’s Jackson Diehl explaining, in reference to Trump: “He’s not up to serious negotiation. He can’t be expected to seriously weigh costs and benefits, or make complex trade-offs. He’s good at bluster, hype and showy gestures, but little else. In short, he may be the worst presidential deal maker in modern history.”

If recent history is any guide, the myth will persist — as will Trump’s record of failure.