US President Trump’s esteem for the Chinese leader has long been evident to geopolitical experts. But the last 10 days have seen a whirlwind of Trump policy moves that might shock even the Politburo in Beijing. Strong-arming Intel into a 10% stake and Nvidia into giving the White House a 15% taste of revenue will seem familiar to anyone who’s seen a decent mafia movie.
Ditto for Trump trying to intimidate Goldman Sachs into firing its chief economist for daring to state the obvious: Tariffs are inflationary. Or Trump sacking the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics for reporting that US unemployment is slowing. Or directing his federal communications czar to revoke media licenses for organizations reporting what anyone outside the Trump bubble can see.
