"We are not in a trade war."
Donald Trump tweeted it. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said it twice on CNBC Friday. And Trump’s economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters the same. But oh, by the way, if we are in a trade war, Kudlow added, China started it.
"We are not in a trade war," he said. [...] Kudlow added: “China is the problem. Blame China, not Trump.”
Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders piled on Friday, reiterating twice that China "created" the problem during the White House briefing.
Nothing like sandbox diplomacy: first deny, then point fingers. The only problem is, the economic behemoth on the other end of the negotiation aged out of the sandbox decades ago.
“China will dedicate itself to the end and at any cost and will definitely fight back firmly" should U.S. “protectionism” continue, the Commerce Ministry said in a statement, according to an Associated Press report.
At any cost. They ain't playin'.
In the meantime, the White House has exhibited total and complete disregard for anyone caught in the crossfire. Trump assured us that we "can't lose" on Wednesday; Sanders assured the nation that their "little bit of short-term pain" would all be worth it later that day; and Trump doubled down on that glaring lack of concern Friday.
Hey, when your own paycheck's not riding on it, who cares. Right?