August 24, 2019

"Let me tell you, you know exactly what I meant. It was sarcasm. It was joking. We were all smiling. And the question like that is just fake news. You're just a faker."

Said Trump, stating the obvious and making another joke about the need to state the obvious, speaking to reporters and quoted in "Trump: 'Chosen one' remark was sarcasm."

On a much more important point:
Trump also drew a reaction on social media on Friday morning after he declared on Twitter that American companies were "hereby ordered" to find alternatives to manufacturing in China. When asked Friday night what gave him the power to make such a sweeping decree, Trump cited the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which gives the president the power to regulate commerce during exceptional international crises.

Shortly after take off en route to France, Trump reiterated that he had the power to do so, tweeting: "For all of the Fake News Reporters that don't have a clue as to what the law is relative to Presidential powers, China, etc., try looking at the Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977. Case closed!"
For more on that: "'I hereby order': Trump mocked for highly formal, meaningless decree/Trump’s demand that US companies boycott China, which he doesn’t have the power to enforce, inspired responses on Twitter" (The Guardian).

133 comments:

rhhardin said...

Trump saying the the Chinese that he's erratic about these things. Perhaps they might do better to strike a deal that they keep.

Ralph L said...

Emergency! Emergency! Everyone to get from tweet!

Kevin said...

The President doesn’t have the power to do anything.

Unless they’re a Democrat.

Then they have the power to do anything.

This message brought to you by by Google, “redefining what it means to not be evil”, the ACLU “fighting for three of the first ten amendments”, and our Living Constitution “thank God for John Roberts”.

traditionalguy said...

Who has the authority to make commands to the United States of America? The American President or European and Chinese rulers? We are about to find out the answer.

Diogenes of Sinope said...

Watching MSNBC, they think Trump was 100 percent not sarcastic with the chosen one snarky comment. They are sure they know exactly what Trump is thinking.

Howard said...

The Chinese haven't flinched yet, but I think it will be any day now. I'm certain they can't see through the web of clever deception laid down by the stable genius.

JMR said...

The Guardian's coverage consists of tweets from regular Trump opponents Adam Schiff and George Conway, without any analysis or comment on the law that gives him the power to issue the order, or an attempt to put the issue in context. Amplifying reactions on Twitter is the opposite of thoughtful journalism, but why put effort into a news story?

stevew said...

I had a little trouble sleeping last night, my mind was occupied thinking about what today's Trump Outrage© would be. Well, here it is.

Has Snopes fact-checked PDT on this yet? These tweeters and journalists are certifiable. They just can't help themselves. Over and over and over again.

Kevin said...

This is Trump putting China in notice that no deal doesn’t mean we continue the current regime.

No deal = #Chexit

You have to signal there’s no going back if you want people to begin moving forward.

The Chinese consulate is busy translating the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act for President Xi to look over.

David Begley said...

Obama wasn’t joking when he picked “we are the ones we have been waiting for” as a campaign slogan.

Ralph L said...

MSNBC screwed up another Trump tweet: Trump blames Dow drop on Moulton withdrawal

Guildofcannonballs said...

"The proclamation, which the president does not have the power to enforce, might have been expected to unleash a wave of panic and terror among America’s mostly capitalist citizenry – such state-mandated orders are, after all, the stuff of planned-economy communist countries. "

Very astute analysis. Mr. Luke O'Neal should surely become a highly-paid consultant for all the proggies, for if Luke be on your side, what person of even minimal decency could be against you?

Maybe looking at the the star billionaire potUS as deranged and completely out of touch with all that is real deserves some snark though? Maybe Luke can add a whiff of disdain? Don't act like you're above it all and indeed find it all amusing, tell us how you really feel.

Or is Luke unwilling to acknowledge Trump has panicked and terrorized Luke?

David Begley said...

China sells way more to us than we do to them.

Lloyd W. Robertson said...

I know it gets tendentious to point out that previous presidents were not necessarily morally superior (my son says "don't tell me you're going to bring up Andrew Jackson again"--I think my point was about Andrew Johnson--drunk as VP at Lincoln's Second Inaugural, and them impeached as Pres). But: JFK and RFK--of course it was a bad idea to have the Attorney General who was also family fixer, tough guy, etc.--and the steel companies.

Kevin said...

Trump: A: You can never go too far. B: If I'm gonna get busted, it is not gonna be by a guy like that.

Diogenes of Sinope said...

The emergency----Chinese interference in the upcoming 2020 U.S.Presidential election. The Chinese Communists are targeting tariffs at US swing states that are critical for Trump to win in the 2020 election to influence the 2020 Presidential election.

jnseward said...

According to Scott Adams a third of the population have no sense of humor. Apparently that is the Democratic base.

Narayanan said...

BDS Israel is copacetic.
BDS China is verboten. Makes MSM verklempt.

David Begley said...

Great idea! BDS China.

Chuck said...

Oh, so wait. Is the "hereby order" thing also sarcasm? I expect not, since Trump is now citing federal regulatory authority within the executive branch to "hereby order" something.

Of course, under the authority that he cited, Trump needs to first declare a national emergency. Has our China trade policy now produced a national emergency?

https://www.lawfareblog.com/what-comes-after-tariffs-ieepa-primer

This is such a beautiful exemplar of Trump's fabulous stupidity. He tweets something crazy, and then instead of anything corrective, he doubles down on it. And in order to not be flatly wrong in addition to plainly crazy, the language and the actual action to be taken gets more vague and indeterminate.

Trump's "hereby ordering" something means nothing.

And of course, Althouse, if a New York Times writer or an NPR reporter or a network anchor made such an ill-use of language, you'd be all over it.

rhhardin said...

Hearby order is a performative, just not the one required.

If you say "I do" in a stage marriage, you're not married, even though it's the right phrase to make it happen.

Infelicitous conditions, as J.L.Austin says.

Narayanan said...

1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act
_____________

Signed by Jimmy Carter.

What else was happening in 1977 to make people focus on International Emergency ?

Teach me please.

rhhardin said...

First effect, no new US companies moving to china until it clarifies.

rhhardin said...

Spending tweets have to originate in the House.

Lewis Wetzel said...

Blogger Kevin said...
. . .

This message brought to you by by Google, “redefining what it means to not be evil”

In 2015 google changes it's slogan. I guess "Don't be evil" no longer fit its business model.

Lewis Wetzel said...

Never forget that "Chuck" says that he voted for Trump.
I didn't vote for Trump.

Leland said...

And nobody in the MSM will come to the realization that the Communist Socialist of China have that authority. Also that Sanders is pushing for exactly that authority using that type of language. Sanders wants to call global warming a crisis and jail CEOs for selling products to consumers.

Beasts of England said...

’Spending tweets have to originate in the House.’

Nice!!

iowan2 said...

This is such a beautiful exemplar of Trump's fabulous stupidity.

Say's a person that is wholly ignorant of current events. (talk about fabulist

Ralph L said...

What else was happening in 1977 to make people focus on International Emergency?

It was possibly in response to the 73-74 oil embargo and ensuing recession. More likely, it was the leftist post-Watergate Congress wanting to give more power to a Dem president & the liberal federal bureaucracy. I was working for DoE when it started emergency allocation rules and retail gas price controls in the second (1979) oil crisis. Reagan cancelled that shit and supply rose and prices plummeted.

Chuck said...

Such a joker, that Trump. It's a pity that more people can't get his humor.

Like on caving the stock market.

Or Kim Jong Un's missile-testing hobby.

It's so much easier to understand Trump when it's all a joke. There's no "wall," and there won't be a wall, and of course Mexico is not going to pay for a U.S. wall. There's no "replacement" for the Affordable Care Act. There won't be any release of his tax returns when the audit is over, because there was never any audit.

All just a joke. Get it?

Greek Donkey said...

Technically, Trump was being facetious, not sarcastic.

Make American Grammar Great Again.

narciso said...

Is that humphrey hawkins, they were most unhelflpful.

narciso said...


https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/08/the-week-in-pictures-annexation-division.php

Leland said...

Such a joker, that Trump. It's a pity that more people can't get his humor.

Like on caving the stock market.


I agree with Althouse; chuck really is just a characterized sock puppet.

Darrell said...

It would have been funny if Chuck's ancestors were rescued at sea. By the Titanic.

Michael K said...

Signed by Jimmy Carter.

What else was happening in 1977 to make people focus on International Emergency ?

Teach me please.


It was all those oil tankers at anchor offshore out of sight to drive up gas prices.

Sebastian said...

Smart businesses will take Trump seriously, but not quite literally.

Regardless of any presidential "orders," American business has become too dependent on China; China is not our friend; therefore, we should diversify.

Darrell said...

I agree with Althouse; chuck really is just a characterized sock puppet.

No, Chuck is. Capital letters matter. chuck is cool. Chuck is a fuckhead.

Sebastian said...

Sorry about long post -- here's George Soros at Davos:

"I want to use my time tonight to warn the world about an unprecedented danger that’s threatening the very survival of open societies.

Tonight I want to call attention to the mortal danger facing open societies from the instruments of control that machine learning and artificial intelligence can put in the hands of repressive regimes. I’ll focus on China, where Xi Jinping wants a one-party state to reign supreme.

A lot of things have happened since last year and I’ve learned a lot about the shape that totalitarian control is going to take in China.

All the rapidly expanding information available about a person is going to be consolidated in a centralized database to create a “social credit system.” Based on that data, people will be evaluated by algorithms that will determine whether they pose a threat to the one-party state. People will then be treated accordingly.

The social credit system is not yet fully operational, but it’s clear where it’s heading. It will subordinate the fate of the individual to the interests of the one-party state in ways unprecedented in history.

I find the social credit system frightening and abhorrent. Unfortunately, some Chinese find it rather attractive because it provides information and services that aren’t currently available and can also protect law-abiding citizens against enemies of the state.

China isn’t the only authoritarian regime in the world, but it’s undoubtedly the wealthiest, strongest and most developed in machine learning and artificial intelligence. This makes Xi Jinping the most dangerous opponent of those who believe in the concept of open society. But Xi isn’t alone. Authoritarian regimes are proliferating all over the world and if they succeed, they will become totalitarian.

[Soros went on to sharply criticize the “debt trap diplomacy” of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI):]

It was designed to promote the interests of China, not the interests of the recipient countries; its ambitious infrastructure projects were mainly financed by loans, not by grants, and foreign officials were often bribed to accept them. Many of these projects proved to be uneconomic.

[Soros went on to praise U.S. President Donald Trump and vice-president Mike Pence:]

Most importantly, the U.S. government has now identified China as a “strategic rival.” President Trump is notoriously unpredictable, but this decision was the result of a carefully prepared plan. Since then, the idiosyncratic behavior of Trump has been largely superseded by a China policy adopted by the agencies of the administration and overseen by Asian affairs advisor of the National Security Council Matt Pottinger and others. The policy was outlined in a seminal speech by Vice President Mike Pence on October 4th.

Last year I still believed that China ought to be more deeply embedded in the institutions of global governance, but since then Xi Jinping’s behavior has changed my opinion. My present view is that instead of waging a trade war with practically the whole world, the US should focus on China. Instead of letting ZTE and Huawei off lightly, it needs to crack down on them. If these companies came to dominate the 5G market, they would present an unacceptable security risk for the rest of the world.

Regrettably, President Trump seems to be following a different course: make concessions to China and declare victory while renewing his attacks on US allies. This is liable to undermine the US policy objective of curbing China’s abuses and excesses"

Now the focus is on China, and I don't see any concessions, but I'm with George and Donald.

Darrell said...

What's the price of Chuck in Chuckistan?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Soros is unpredictable.

Soros was FOR Hillary. Right?
Hillary is FOR China. Hillary is made in China. The deep state and making money thru governmetn connections is what the leftwing are all about.

Fernandinande said...

Emergency! Emergency! Everyone to get from tweet!

The Russians are Posting! The Russians are Posting!

But everyone thought the Russian's were OK after one of them saved a young tweet that almost got deleted.

rcocean said...

MSNBC and the Liberals know Trump is ALWAYS wrong - no matter he says or how he says it. Orange man bad.

narciso said...

For anothee persoective



https://www.businessinsider.com/gary-shilling-legendary-economist-trade-war-outlook-says-us-will-win-2018-10?utm_content=bufferdaae6&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer-bi&fbclid=IwAR2mt6zCLjNZ_YtnGFDCKFB8cdmY0yhvviT-x3ny-VfgkbJfP1qOpKzGlHE

pacwest said...

"Emergency! Emergency! Everyone to get from tweet!"

Comedy gold! That made my day.

Francisco D said...

Trump is more financially savvy than our past few Presidents. He is talking down the stock market so that it does not get unrealistically high in the next year and become subject to a crash.

He understands Bernard Baruch's observation that the market operates on two emotions: Fear and Greed. When either emotion predominates for too long, you have problems. It needs to be mixed up once in a while.

NCMoss said...

Snopes via Babylon Bee will help unravel what he meant.

Michael McNeil said...

Instapundit, yesterday evening: [quoting…]

SO A LOT OF PEOPLE ON FACEBOOK ARE SAYING THAT OF COURSE PRESIDENT TRUMP CAN’T “ORDER” A PRIVATE BUSINESS TO GET OUT OF CHINA. In fact, he almost certainly can do just that, so long as he makes the right declaration. Under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, better known in the trade as IEEPA, presidents have a virtual blank check on regulating economic transactions with other countries, so long as they declare a national emergency — which can include one based on economic threats.

I’m not saying this is a good idea, but the people saying that “Trump’s an idiot, presidents can’t do that” are displaying their ignorance. Presidents absolutely can do that. Note that at present Trump is spreading fear, uncertainty, and doubt, by tweeting the order but NOT making the declaration that would be required to give it effect. It’s thus a shot across the bow — a metaphor that fits this quite well, really.

See also this earlier post, discussing an Obama action, and U.S. v. Spawr Optical, a disturbing but unexceptional example of judicially endorsed presidential power over international trade.

UPDATE: The folks at Twitchy seem to have missed the boat on this one.

[/unQuote]

wildswan said...

"rhhardin said...
Spending tweets have to originate in the House."

Treaty tweets have to have the advise and consent of the Senate.

BDS China

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

MSNBC is a leftwing terrorist organization

FrankiM said...

“Who is our bigger enemy, Fed Chairman Powell or Chinese President Xi?”

doctrev said...

I get that a $450 per hour lawyer can pretend to be extremely stupid about the precision of words, but President Trump is saying he was sarcastic about being called the Chosen One. NOT about his 100% serious exhortation for American multinationals to leave China. Personally, I don't care if companies do or don't: "let him be filthy still," as the saying goes. President Trump is dead serious about pushing increasingly tight sanctions on China, and I kind of hope some major multinationals get shredded for failing to understand this. Free market system: clean out the dead weight and let new firms move in. If the communists are seriously dumb enough to put tariffs on commodities in retaliation, they really are as inept at business as I thought. At least they're smarter than journalists or the gullible swine who believe them.

readering said...

I don't get the joke.

Mr. Majestyk said...

After reading Chuck's latest diatribe, I realized that Chuck must be Drago's sock puppet. The whole back and forth is just performance art. It just has be. Fess up, Drago!

FrankiM said...

One too many jokes and you resemble a clown.

buwaya said...

The funny part is that the Xi government was deliberately pushing out or limiting multinationals before the Trump trade war kicked off. This was I believe part of Xi's program of reimposition of discipline (party control) in China. The idea was to have been a somewhat (just somewhat, keeping the exports) more autarkic system.

The Chinese success formula since 1979 was to invite foreign investment, create export industries, open foreign markets, and use its various advantages to accumulate capital, for the state and the people. This worked tremendously well. But it undermined party control.

narciso said...


I prefer to show rather than tell:


https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/08/china-vs-democracy/596248/?fbclid=IwAR2hPpnQaZE1NfsV6X6gKXz_CpjQoNNeJQyXsMgtmrJPJatQo7V8GV139GU

Chuck said...

Michael McNeil;

Game on. You are suggesting that Trump’s international trade authority is serious in this case. You really want us to take Trump both literally and seriously?

Trump tweeted, “I hereby order...”. So was that, like, an order? Under the authority that you and Trump claim exists? Is there a national emergency predicate for that order? When was that declared?

No, Michael. This isn’t serious. It’s not an order, there’s no national emergency (unless Trump’s recklessness causes one), and nothing legally (except perhaps litigation that Trump will lose) will come of this.

It’s just like the Greenland kerfuffle. And Andrew Egger, writing at The Bulwark, summarized that one quite beautifully:

https://thebulwark.com/the-greenland-kerfuffle-is-not-just-an-embarrassing-sideshow/

narciso said...

the review of that paper, about unrestricted warfare, which the Chinese have taken to heart as strategy, frankly could just rejoin with the prologue to the opium war, is indicative,

buwaya said...

Now that China has stepped in it, inviting a long-due pushback from the rest of the world re its export-driven growth, it has almost run out of space (capital) to prefer internal political goals to economic. It could afford to spurn foreign investment in 2017, but not now.

That 3% Chinese devaluation hit investors a telling blow, reducing the value of their investments. China had to do it though, being between a rock and a hard place. The only thing saving China from devastating capital flight is that its not easy to extract capital from China. Not for foreign investors anyway.

This is quite a fascinating dance, Trump vs Xi, played out in every theater, sometimes theatrically. One is North Korea, another is US politics and MSM, much of which is in a Chinese pocket. Another is Chinese projects in Africa, many of which are getting cancelled. This is a complex, global phenomenon. It will be interesting later, maybe, to see where Chinese influence ($) has been exerted, and what the US and Euros have been doing.

For instance, the attempt to pressure the Trump administration with a flood of Central American "refugees". Or the Chinese accomodation with the Vatican. And the recent Chinese carrier-raid exercise towards Guam.

Its one world and everything affects everything else. It takes attention and curiosity to tease out relationships.

Chuck said...


Lol. One thing I know about China is that Xi doesn’t have to run for re-election in 2020.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

China’s taken their one effective move to counter the tariffs. They devalued their currency. So now it takes FEWER U.S. dollars to buy the same goods we bought last year. Despite stock volatility the effect on our economy has been minimal, and the actual tariff income has been used to reimburse farmers. China is a paper tiger, supply chains astound the world are being remade to avoid them, their Belt & Road initiative (like their moves in the South China Sea) has not gone over well with their neighbors, and they have a delicate situation in Hong Kong capable of poisoning domestic tranquility. Our economy is strong with one indicator (bonds that Democrat rich people buy) pointing falsely to recession while the right other economic indicators clearly say expansion. Strong job growth. Companies hiring. And most important consumers spending with confidence. Chairman Xi is over a barrel and Trump is throwing strikes at the trapdoor trigger. How long before the rigged China economy engulfs Xi? Or will the Gospel-singing Old Glory-waving Hong Kongers cause his fall first?

One thing is certain, the DNC-media complex has lost all authority and trust which would have allowed them to cover for the ChiComs. So Tianeman will be broadcast widely THIS time.

buwaya said...

Trump makes threats in his own way.
Whatever he says is meant for the world to hear.
There is nothing fake about ordering tarriffs.
The effect of this has already been telling.

Consider the effect on investors in China, and not just US investors.
They cannot afford to discount what Trump says.
They have to up their investment models internal political risk premiums.
And the Chinese know it.

Birkel said...

Let's face it. China - like all authoritarian regimes - is run by bad actors. Americans invested in China and put too many resources into one unstable basket.

Let's start there. Does anybody disagree?

buwaya said...

I am 100% in bonds since mid-June.
Its been very good.
I did very well to get out of equities, where I was doing very well for six months.

Especially out of international equities. Look at the Hang Seng and the DAX.

buwaya said...

The US is also run by "bad actors".
Everyone works for their own interests, to the degree they can get away with it.

Birkel said...

One thing that helps, when trying to identify Leftist Collectivists, is to see what frame they put on events. Because Leftist Collectivists only worry about power, they frame things in terms of domestic politics.

Note Chuck at 9:56AM:
Chuck said...
Lol. One thing I know about China is that Xi doesn’t have to run for re-election in 2020.
8/24/19, 9:56 AM

Note my frame at 10:01AM.

QED

Birkel said...

buwaya,
Do you think I would disagree about US politicians?

That is why I prefer dispersed power in a federal system. Too much power has coalesced in Washington, DC and the behavior of the people there has grown worse. That is a trend I most vehemently wish to reverse.

Chuck said...

Birkel; where is there more instability; inside the Xi regime, or inside the Trump White House?

Former Trump White House Director of Communications Anthony Scaramucci wonders if the Chinese are so happy with a Trump White House and the collateral damage Trump is doing more broadly to the Western World, that they would like Trump to remain in office for another term.

https://mobile.twitter.com/Scaramucci/status/1165101260728623104

So much winning. Well not for the people of Hong Kong perhaps.

buwaya said...

"Lol. One thing I know about China is that Xi doesn’t have to run for re-election in 2020"

Quite. Thats why US politics is such a tempting place for foreigners to exert pressure, direct, indirect, and through US proxies. Such as Qatar and Russia funding environmentalists. Who knows who is in what pocket, one just has to assume that most of them are.

Its a bit like the old Polish problem, where the magnates had the liberum veto. A foreign power could paralyze the Poles by buying off a magnate.

doctrev said...

buwaya said...

This is quite a fascinating dance, Trump vs Xi, played out in every theater, sometimes theatrically. One is North Korea, another is US politics and MSM, much of which is in a Chinese pocket. Another is Chinese projects in Africa, many of which are getting cancelled. This is a complex, global phenomenon. It will be interesting later, maybe, to see where Chinese influence ($) has been exerted, and what the US and Euros have been doing.

For instance, the attempt to pressure the Trump administration with a flood of Central American "refugees". Or the Chinese accomodation with the Vatican. And the recent Chinese carrier-raid exercise towards Guam.

Its one world and everything affects everything else. It takes attention and curiosity to tease out relationships.

8/24/19, 9:52 AM

Excellent overview. The fate of Hong Kong and Taiwan are also very important in this matter. Trump enjoyed substantial advantage in announcing an $8 billion arms sale, which will be politically impossible to block if China chooses to resolve the Hong Kong crisis in a violent way. In addition, Chinese projects in Asia (like Malaysia) are also being cancelled by governments replacing corrupt Chinese puppets.

doctrev said...

Oh yes, I'm certain China loves a declining economy and dealing with multiple crises that they want another four years of it. I suspect Pelosi wants a Trump term more than Xi does.

Clown. Big red rubber nose.

buwaya said...

One has to inquire about the ownership of the US MSM.
The power-structure in that is important, because it leads directly to the interests it actually serves.

What you hear from such people is what they want you to hear.
A prudent man will ask, first, "why are you telling me this?"

You will get no answer from them, or a very illogical one, if they have something to hide.

Alex said...

Fuhrer Drumpf and you all accept it.

narciso said...

scaramucci think hna will buy skybridge back, it's a better investment than the deutsche bloc they dropped but not by much,

Lyle said...

Actually, Xi is in deep trouble. Like, his enemies may kill him.

Daniel Jackson said...

So, now, the Greenland gambit takes on new meaning.

narciso said...

Xi will probably face challenges from the central committee, for what one might regard as provocative acts like the artificial island buildup and threats to hong kong, not that they disagree with either tactic probably, but the timing is off,

doctrev said...

Yeah. When you can't be removed by democracy, people find other means. Xi wouldn't have to worry about that if he was particularly charismatic, intelligent, or personally strong. But he's not, and if he's not petrified he's not as smart as he thinks.

Lyle said...

I with Birkel. Investing in China was one of many mistakes our elite government and business class has made.

Birkel said...

Chuck,
Thanks for reinforcing my point. You focus on the politics of power like every Leftist Collectivist does. You cannot think more broadly. It's hard not to laugh at the way you've crippled your own mind.

Birkel said...

Trump, of course, can appeal to the masses. He can say

"Watch an episode of a reality show. I had one of those. It was #1. I had the best show. But take a different show. Doesn't do quite as well. But you probably all know Shark Tank. Am I right? What does every shark say every week? You'll need to move production overseas. To China. That's their answer. The answer is we have to give the business over to Chinese production. And these entrepreneurs. These young people with ideas? They see all that money offered and they do what they think is best for their family. They take the money and the jobs to China. But you know who it's not good for? Americans. American workers. American businesses. And I am fixing that problem. I want to help those people see how to help themselves and their own country. We want American business to help American workers."

Does that message reach the masses? It does.
Does it start a Twitter war with Lefty Mark Cuban? Probably.
Win-win.
So much winning.

n.n said...

Trumped: IEEPA

(a)(1) At the times and to the extent specified in section 1701 of this title, the President may, under such regulations as he may prescribe, by means of instructions, licenses, or otherwise--
(A) investigate, regulate, or prohibit--
(i) any transactions in foreign exchange,
(ii) transfers of credit or payments between, by, through, or to any banking institution, to the extent that such transfers or payments involve any interest of any foreign country or a national thereof,
(iii) the importing or exporting of currency or securities, by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States;
(B) investigate, block during the pendency of an investigation, regulate, direct and compel, nullify, void, prevent or prohibit, any acquisition, holding, withholding, use, transfer, withdrawal, transportation, importation or exportation of, or dealing in, or exercising any right, power, or privilege with respect to, or transactions involving, any property in which any foreign country or a national thereof has any interest by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States;


Apparently, the President can... without claiming rites in the Twilight Amendment.

Birkel said...

Trump can attack the 1% in my example above.
Imagine that?
Co-opting the Leftist words?

He can make the sympathetic play for the little guy trying to make it.
And he can criticize the mega-rich for focusing on money.

And he can stand for American workers.
That's not political in the horse race sense.

Michael K said...

Blogger Alex said...
Fuhrer Drumpf and you all accept it.



Hard to differentiate between the two Alexs.

Maybe you could add "lefty Alex."

Chuck said...

Why were all the cheesy Trump products made in China?

Chuck said...

I’m not thinking about any grand uses of power. I’m thinking about what a jackass Trump is.

Michael K said...

Blogger Chuck said...

Lol. One thing I know about China is that Xi doesn’t have to run for re-election in 2020.


Ands China is pulling out all the stops with their bought and paid for Democrats (Feinstein) and NeverTrumpers to try to stop him.

I wonder how deeply they have invested in Pelosi's husband? We know Feinstein is bought.

Birkel said...

"...were..."

Correct!

Ken B said...

Isn’t Trump right on the law? In which case isn’t he right that all the talking heads went off pontificating *without bothering to check*? That makes them fake news in my book.

YoungHegelian said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
YoungHegelian said...

I have my own private conspiracy theory about what was happening behind the scenes with the Trump "order companies out of China" tweet, which followed on the heels of the raise in tariffs.

I think that US intelligence caught wind of the Chinese government planning to come down hard on Hong Kong (i.e. putting down the protests by force), and that Trump's temper tantrum was him signaling the Chinese that we knew & were very unhappy

Seeing Red said...

This is what happens in Cold Wars.

I was born and raised during one.

I hoped not to die during one, but Commies gotta Commie.

narciso said...

well one fellow in the know, says that this more about the princelings, who govern in concert with xi,

Seeing Red said...

Fuhrer Drumpf and you all accept it.

Dems wrote that rule. Lololol

SDaly said...

Trump doesn't have to order anyone to do anything. At this point, any American CEO who doesn't make plans to source from places other than China will be sued by shareholders for breach of fiduciary duty.

Louie Looper said...

So Trump said, “Our great American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including bringing your companies HOME and making your products in the USA.” I don’t see how this orders any company to get out of China. Companies are merely directed to “start looking for an alternative to China.” It seems comparable to requiring companies to develop plans to respond to global climate change or deal with Y2K issues.

Of course, any binding requirement would first have to go through the rule making process and be approved by each of the federal judges in the 9th Circuit.

SDaly said...

One has to inquire about the ownership of the US MSM.

"Ownership" is essentially irrelevant. Most ownership is of giant publicly traded corporations. The inquiry needs to be focused on the management of the US MSM.

Jim at said...

I'm old enough to remember when not buying Chinese goods was a sign of virtue to the left.

What changed?

Jim at said...

“Who is our bigger enemy, Fed Chairman Powell or Chinese President Xi?”

Neither in comparison to the fifth-column left in America today.

readering said...

SDaly expert in the business judgment rule.

readering said...

Jim must be older than me.

readering said...

SDaly ownership matters when concentrated in one family like Viacom and Fox and NY Times.

Bruce Hayden said...

“Trump saying the the Chinese that he's erratic about these things. Perhaps they might do better to strike a deal that they keep”

We say “Trump being Trump again”. Ho, hum. ChiComs though going WTF? Running any communist, or even centrally planned, country is an exercise in fighting entropy. Which, of course, is one of the big reasons that socialism ultimately fails. Communism worked there just fine when all that they had to worry about was rice production for upwards of a billion peasants. Now, though, they have hundreds of millions former peasants who have moved to the cities, and somewhat joined the middle class. They make innumerable products, and sell them around the world. Or at least sold them around the world. They were able to bluff and cheat their way into an advantageous trading position, in regards to their many trading partners, and esp the US. After our experience fighting them almost 70 years ago, no one wants to face a Chinese human wave attack. Except that those were peasants, and we would now face proto middle class Chinese.

Part of why China has seemingly been more successful with their Communism than the Ruskies were is probably that Chinese society has traditionally been significantly better ordered. Order is a virtue there. Always has been. Much easier to fight entropy in a well ordered society. And, it doesn’t help that the Chinese leadership is a bit long in the tooth, though not as bad as it has been.

Then, Donald Trump walks into theWhite House, and they don’t know how to respond. Partly because he is not the least bit consistent, and indeed, seems to revel sometimes in his inconsistencies, and the uncertainties he brings to almost any situation. They can’t ignore him, because he commands a much bigger navy, and has a lot more nuclear weapons than they do, and much of their external economy currently moves by ship. Plus, they sell a lot of stuff to us. He is constantly whip sawing them with his Good Cop/Bad Cop routine, and they don’t know how to react. And that is really hard for them, because they are not only Chinese, but geriatric Chinese Communists.

I think that this will ultimately be successful on Trump’s part. They can’t afford not to take him seriously, because they are cautious geriatric Chinese communists, and desperately need order in their lives, and for their country and its economy. No doubt, they will try to affect the next election, any way that they can, including through naive illegal campaign contributions, etc. but the danger there is that if plausibly calls them out for it, that will guarantee his re-election. He appears to be inside their OODA loop, and they know it.

Or, maybe he is just cra cra. They don’t know, but know that they can’t call his bluff - if it is a bluff.

Birkel said...

No, not an expert. The humor impaired never laugh.

But the S-K disclosures would be interesting for those who wish to risk staying in China.

Bruce Hayden said...

“No doubt, they will try to affect the next election, any way that they can, including through MASSIVE illegal campaign contributions, etc....”

Bruce Hayden said...

The bottom line to my long tirade just now is that the ChiComs cannot afford to not back down with Trump, in regards to economic matters. Thy just have to do so in a way that they don’t lose too much face.

Birkel said...

The problem with Chinese efforts to derail Trump are many.

One, Trump spent less than Hillary. It turns out great marketing for a shit product won't work.

Two, it will give Trump every excuse to start his own investigations. Which of the Democrats could object?

Three, nobody trusts the megaphones China might fund. Looking at you MSNBC and CNN.

It won't work!

n.n said...

nobody trusts the megaphones China might fund. Looking at you MSNBC and CNN.

And Google, too, perhaps Alphabet, have been infiltrated by Chinese agents, presumably to influence elections and social harmony. And other alien agents at the DNC, etc.

n.n said...

Trump is confronting labor and environmental arbitrage, directed and covert transfers of intellectual property, and other schemes that undermine human rights, civil rights, and free market viability.

Jim at said...

Jim must be older than me.

That may be. Maybe all those I don't shop at Wal*Mart stickers I still see plastered on the bumpers of Subarus are my imagination? My eyesight getting worse?

readering said...

Watched video again. Trump had a strange "smile". Might have scared pets and children if he smiled at them like that.

Michael K said...

Running any communist, or even centrally planned, country is an exercise in fighting entropy.

They need to read Adam Smith again. Also Democrats should read it but they won't. None of the ones we hear of have ever run a business. The ones funding them know but are getting benefits we don't think about.

Birkel said...

Let's not criticize the policies.
Let's criticize a smile and put it in scare quotes.

You bore yourself, don't you?

Martin said...

I should be used to it by now, but I am still a bit surprised how the ignorant, ill-educated, unintelligent media types fall for ever single gambit Trump throws out there, even unintentional ones like "The Chosen One," which clearly was a joke. That anybody could think Trump was being serious when he said that and then theatrically turned and looked heavenward, well, they have to be really, really stupid or really, really deranged.

traditionalguy said...

Who credits Trump with Hong Kong populists, French populists, and UK populists. That is a mighty big revolution started by one Great Communicator and confrontation artist.

Maillard Reactionary said...

What a reading list you keep up with, Professor. The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Guardian...

There's actually a whole world of different ideas and viewpoints outside of the lefty bubble. And they have their own publications-- like the Wall Street Journal, The Claremont Review, City Journal, countless others.

You might find it refreshing to step outside and sniff the air. So to speak.

Narayanan said...

Compare also to the Fiddler character Tevye? asking God : could you not choose somebody else for change.

Narayanan said...

You might find it refreshing to step outside and sniff the air. So to speak.
________
Anosmia is great for her revel with stinky shit?

Ralph L said...

She's reading them so we don't have to, and the exposure probably does us good--good for a laugh, too, sometimes.

Narayanan said...

readering said...
Watched video again. Trump had a strange "smile". Might have scared pets and children if he smiled at them.
________
Should SNL bring Jack Nicholson or even Peter strzok as Trump to do that smile !

The Crack Emcee said...

I like the madness of Trump thinking the press could be trusted - after years of saying they couldn't.

Or the madness of Trump thinking the press wouldn't believe him after he'd said a crazy thing - after years of him saying crazy things.

It's all just madness now - and the Republicans haven't noticed, of course. This will not end well...

jeremyabrams said...

He wants the US to disengage, and he wants as many companies as possible to shift production from China. In that sense, a deal with China even on his own terms would be a bit counter-productive, so he's trying to scare a many companies out of there as he can before a deal is struck.

buwaya said...

Trump knows very well the msm is not to be trusted.
And it doesn't matter what they "believe".

When you see Trump facing msm reporters you are seeing a game being played on several levels - because the audiences for the game are each seeing a different game.

chickelit said...

And Trump supporters are the choosin’ People.

Drago said...

Mr. Majestyk: "After reading Chuck's latest diatribe, I realized that Chuck must be Drago's sock puppet. The whole back and forth is just performance art. It just has be. Fess up, Drago!"

I can understand why you write this.

In the other hand, per Occams razor, LLR and #StrongDemDefender Chuck is simply a Reid Hoffman RolCon fake conservative posting here to undermine republicans/conservatives in support of his many mamy many beloved dem allies and far left media personalities.

He has made his lefty intent quite explicitly clear.

Explicitly.

Birkel said...

DeVere,
You misjudge. Trump doesn't care about a deal with China. He wants America less dependent on a global rival. And he recognizes that China is dependent on access to the US market in order to elevate China to rivalry status.

China is blowing its global currency reserves to manipulate its stock. That strategy is unsustainable. The ROW can not replace American consumers as a market. China has to import food stuffs from a global market.

The strategy of shooting missiles from North Korea does not illicit the response the Chinese require. Trump just ignores it and says nice things about bad actors.

PURPLE ELEPHANTS!

bagoh20 said...

The people in the real world of business with actual skin in the game know perfectly well what Trump meant. It was a clear signal that he has no intention of backing down on China and that means you business leaders need to take this serious and not just wait to see if things will get better on their own. He saying wake up - the status quo is over. You have a fiduciary responsibility to take action to both help your nation and prevent your companies from being severely damaged by the change he is determined to get done. Its a warning, a call to arms in this trade war. Smart people in positions of responsibility couldn't care less how Trump's enemies want to frame it, becuase the opinions of those Trump obsessed partisans don't mean shit to real people with real jobs making things around the world.

Kevin said...

I’m not thinking about any grand uses of power. I’m thinking about what a jackass Trump is.

Shorter Chuck: I bring prejudices, not arguments!

Chuck said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Birkel said...

I hope the self-identified racist Smear Merchant, Chuck, fopdoodle extraordinaire, regales us with his prejudices.

Largo said...

//I’m not thinking about any grand uses of power. I’m thinking about what a jackass Trump is.//

Chuck speaks as if heis ignorant of the signigicance of the former to consideration of the latter.