Opinion | Maybe Trump Was Never a Deal Maker

This whole notion of Trump as the master deal maker, as deal maker in chief — it’s all part of this long-running Trump mythology that was part of “The Art of the Deal,” part of “The Apprentice.” I think what we’re seeing now very clearly in the second term is the limits to his deal-making prowess, especially internationally. You mentioned, he was going to bring down prices on Day 1. He was also going to end the Ukraine war in a day. Remember, this was something he said like more than 50 times on the campaign trail. His trade deals have been all over the map, in part because the tariff policy has been all over the map. And the court has put limits on his ability to do that. Sending JD Vance the first time around for a day to negotiate is theater. You can’t conclude negotiations on such an array of complicated issues in one day. I agree. I don’t think Trump has the attention to detail, the patience, frankly, for arduous negotiations that lead to a real deal. I think he wants to save face. He wants to say that whatever he gets was better than the Obama deal, and he wants to get out as soon as he can.