So on the one hand, the great man expresses unconventional neo-mercantilist views, offends our allies, and hints at a diplomatic revolution, while on the other, his agents run around the world assuring everyone in sight that he doesn’t really mean any of those things. What are we to make of this state of affairs?
Don’t take much of what you hear either seriously or literally. Trump is deliberately keeping his intentions vague in order to give himself more freedom of action. Of course, in doing this, he will wind up alienating everyone except Putin and Netanyahu, but that’s what he calls “realism.”