Trump's folly is piling up. And America is weaker for it. [View all]

by Rahm Emanuel

Never before has a president so ably stolen defeat from the jaws of victory on the global stage. And trust me, there’s a lot of competition for that title.

Years from now, when the public is less focused on bond yields, stock prices, dollar depreciation and tariff exemptions, historians will see this moment as the most glaring example of a president squandering America’s geostrategic advantages. The erratic steps President Donald Trump has taken to usher in a new era of crony capitalism will be studied in political science seminars for generations to come.

To appreciate the depth of his recent tariff blunder, you need to look beyond the most immediate implications. Set aside the fact that tariffs represent the largest tax increase in memory, and that Trump is forcing an economic recession. Look past the fact that he is throwing away a carefully calibrated industrial policy that was showing signs of success in cutting-edge technologies. Trump has managed to fritter away the best opportunity we’ve had in a generation to alter the U.S.-China competition in our favor.

Most will recall that, for a long time, China was a value-add to the global economy; its emergence enhanced prosperity throughout the developing world. More recently, however, that win-win has evolved to become a win-lose. Forced to address a burst housing bubble and a municipal debt crisis across his country, President Xi Jinping embraced an agenda that had both smothered China’s own entrepreneurs and discouraged foreign investment.

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