A few days ago @delong asked why Trump is waging a trade war on China. The more I think about it, the deeper that question seems. 1/ bradford-delong.com/2018/10/why-is…
It sort of goes without saying that the Trump position is based on very bad economics; to find an economic adviser who supported his view, Jared Kushner trolled through Amazon and cold-called a little-known (and incompetent) guy whose name popped up 2/ vanityfair.com/news/2017/04/j… 
What's more remarkable is that there don't seem to be any important interest groups backing Trump's position, and his trade war looks like a political loser too 3/ news.gallup.com/poll/238013/am…
But wait, there's more. Trump clearly likes murderous autocrats, especially if they go after journalists; they're his kind of people. Also, they bribe him by throwing money at his businesses. Hence his affection not just for Putin but for the Saudis. 4/
The whole thing about arms sales to SA creating jobs is a con. Aside from the claims being totally bogus, the billions in arms sales aren't what matters to DJT; it's the millions the Saudis deliver to him personally 5/
But Xi is an autocrat who suppresses dissent, has surely killed many people, and is quite willing to bribe useful foreigners. So why isn't Trump friends with the Chinese regime? Have the Chinese refused to pay up? Or does Trump just need an enemy? Inquiring minds want to know 6/
