Hard to disagree

Let's all again pause and be gobsmacked about what Trump gets away with claiming, without so much as a shrug of the shoulders from the gormless, "but he's our lying, bullshitting President", Right.

Update:  at the same event, I think:

President Trump said on Thursday, when talking about immigration at a West Virginia event, that women are being "raped at levels that nobody's ever seen before." Trump was in West Virginia for a tax reform discussion. 

And elsewhere at Axios:

President Trump tonight says he's directed the U.S. Trade Representative to consider an additional $100 billion in tariffs on China, and that the administration may take other actions to "protect our farmers and agricultural interests." The White House says it's announcing these new measures "in light of China's unfair retaliation" to an earlier $50 billion in proposed tariffs.

Why it matters via Jonathan Swan: This is exactly what the free traders who formerly worked in the White House feared, Trump in a macho pissing match against Chinese President Xi. Trump has a blunt understanding of leverage and believes the worst thing he can show is weakness. He also believes, as he tweeted, that the U.S. already is so far down on the scorecard with China that he’s got nothing to lose.

By the way, I thought Krugman's column on the China trade war was pretty good and balanced.

Update 2:  the Wisdom of the Elder (that's sarcasm, by the way) from Catallaxy:

We shall see....