Here's a presidential tweet from a few days ago that raised some eyebrows:
China has been asked to develop a plan for the year of a One Billion Dollar reduction in their massive Trade Deficit with the United States. Our relationship with China has been a very good one, and we look forward to seeing what ideas they come back with. We must act soon!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 7, 2018
Since our trade deficit with China is around $375 billion, this seemed like one of our brash leader's more modest requests, and indeed it turns out that, according to The Wall Street Journal, he left out an important word: "Hundred" between "One" and "Billion." So, off by $99 billion. In scientific notation,
9.9 x 1010.
On the interpretation most favorable to our president, I suppose you might say that anyone can leave out a word. The problem with this is that the White House has advised the world that his tweets are to be regarded as official presidential statements. Maybe he needs a copy editor. In that case, however, the editor should be somewhat more knowledgeable than the president, because I'm pretty sure the real problem here is that Trump is uninformed and probably also confused by big numbers. After all, this is the guy who, a few days before he lobbed this tweet into the ether, had announced at the Gridiron dinner that he'd recently spoken on the phone with North Korea and told them he'd talk but they had to "de-nuke." This, too, seemed implausible, and it turned out he'd actually been talking with South Korea. So many Koreas! Think how unfortunate it would be if North and South Dakota were at each others' throats and you really had to know which was which.
I remember that, in the run-up to the Reykjavik summit on arms control, there was concern on our side about allowing Reagan to be alone with Gorbachev. What if the president started telling old stories and then gave away the store? Well, the problem is back, with a vengeance. The good news is that the whole story seems half baked. The thing we most want from North Korea is for them to "de-nuke," which, according to Sarah Sanders yesterday, they must do for the talks to occur. But giving away their biggest chip before the first card is dealt isn't something the North Koreans are apt to do. It's beginning to look like the Administration's breathless announcement of the day before was a case of ready-fire-aim.
It's alarming that Team Trump should be so ready to have him sit down with Kim Jong Un. They are plainly trying to avoid allowing Mueller to interview him, as it seems his options are then either to tell the truth (which means confessing to crimes) or lying (which would be a new crime). But at least the jeopardy accrues only to Team Trump. When he speaks at a high stakes summit, we could all be in trouble, for he's plainly not up to the job.
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