President Donald Trump coached top trade negotiator Robert Lighthizer to say he was ‘crazy’ as a way to prod anxious South Koreans into making economic concessions in trade talks, according to a report.
Trump provided the September schooling during an Oval Office meeting over whether to pull out of the U.S.-South Korea trade agreement.
Trump told Lighthizer how he should approach talks on a potential pullout threatened by the president.
‘You’ve got 30 days, and if you don’t get concessions then I’m pulling out,’ Trump told him, Axios reported, in a story based on sources who paraphrased the exchange.
CRAZY LIKE A FOX? ‘You tell them if they don’t give the concessions now, this crazy guy will pull out of the deal,’ Trump urged his trade negotiator Robert Lighthizer
‘Ok, well I’ll tell the Koreans they’ve got 30 days,’ Lighthizer replied, according to the report.
‘No, no, no,’ Trump responded. ‘That’s not how you negotiate. You don’t tell them they’ve got 30 days. You tell them, ‘This guy’s so crazy he could pull out any minute.”
‘That’s what you tell them: Any minute,’ Trump advised. ‘And by the way, I might. You guys all need to know I might. You don’t tell them 30 days. If they take 30 days they’ll stretch this out.’
‘You tell them if they don’t give the concessions now, this crazy guy will pull out of the deal,’ Trump urged.
The high-powered coaching session included Defense Secretary James Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer attends a press conference in Washington on Aug. 16, 2017, at the start of renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico
CALL ME CRAZY: President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump welcomed President Moon and his wife Kim Jeong-suk of the Republic of Korea, at the South Portico (South Lawn) of the White House, on Thursday, June 29, 2017
Korea is a leading regional ally and faces threat of attack from North Korea, prompting some advisors to argue against a pullout.
Trump’s use of ‘good cop, bad cop’ isn’t the only negotiating tactic he has revealed lately.
Last week, the president said that his push for a 15 per cent corporate tax was just a negotiating ploy to try to get a number he could live with.
‘I wanted to start at 15 so that we got 20 – 15 was so low we didn’t take in the revenue. But I wanted 15 so we got 20, 20’s my number so I’m not negotiating that number. I am not going to negotiate,’ Trump said as the White House put out a tax outline.
MORE ADVICE: Trump publicly embarrassed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson over the weekend, telling him not to bother negotiating with Pyongang
South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump wait for a meeting at the Palace Hotel during the 72nd United Nations General Assembly on September 21, 2017 in New York City
South Korean president Moon Jae-in speaks to world leaders at the 72nd United Nations (UN) General Assembly at UN headquarters on September 21, 2017 in New York City. Topics to be discussed at this year’s gathering include Iran, North Korea and global warming
Trump engaged in some unusual diplomacy over the weekend as he sent out tweets undercutting Secretary of State Rex Tillerson as he seeks to defuse the situation with North Korea.
‘Save your energy Rex, we’ll do what has to be done!’ Trump wrote.
He added in another tweet: ‘Being nice to Rocket Man hasn’t worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I won’t fail.’
Lightthizer’s official bio on the trade representative’s web indicates that he may not need many negotiating lessons.
‘An experienced trade negotiator and litigator, Ambassador Lighthizer brings a history of tough U.S. trade enforcement and a record of standing up for American workers, farmers, manufacturers, and businesses,’ according to the bio.
A partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, he practiced for 30 years.
He served as deputy trade rep in the Reagan Administration, where he ‘negotiated over two dozen bilateral international agreements, including agreements on steel, automobiles, and agricultural products. As Deputy USTR, he also served as Vice Chairman of the Board of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.’
He was also chief of staff to the Senate Finance Committee under then-chairman Bob Dole, making him a ‘key player’ in the 1981 Regan tax cuts.