We all recognise that dealing with China is in many ways unfair, and you're absolutely right to highlight the issue. But instead of just pointing out the problem, can you actually explain or defend the strategy Trump is using here?

Because from the outside, it looks like real harm is being done, to both the U.S. economy and its standing in the world. And the never ending stream of lies from the White House just makes it all worse.

Trump is lying about a huge amount of deals being made.
https://fortune.com/article/trump-test-case-trade-negotiations-japan-failing-reach-deal-analysts/

He's even lying about being in conversation with China about any of the issues:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/business/trump-tariffs-stocks.html

It honestly feels pointless to list everything wrong with his approach, but here are some of the most glaring issues:

• Acting like trade negotiations can be wrapped up in a few weeks instead of years
• Alienating key allies right when he could have used their support
• Throwing out threats without clear demands, then backtracking
• Ignoring the damage these measures are doing to American businesses and consumers
• Completely misjudging the leverage the U.S. has—especially over China
• Expecting respect while behaving like an arrogant bully no one wants to work with

This isn’t how you negotiate. But then again, outside of his most loyal fans and sycophants, nobody ever really believed the “great dealmaker” myth—not even the people who actually worked with him.

You can't defend his failures by saying "at least he's doing something". That ignores the very real damage he's doing to the US.