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Many of Donald Trump’s frighteningly giddy supporters during the campaign echoed a few basic “powers” that their “super hero/villain” candidate possessed. One of the most frequently boasted about abilities that would miraculously make so much in this country better was Trump’s mythologized negotiating skill.

Anyone who followed Trump’s business practices over the years would not have seen this alleged ability in him. Smart negotiating requires insightful, big picture thinking, understanding opponents and their motivations and conducting oneself in a way that doesn’t polarize those from who you need agreement.

Trump never exhibited any of the basic skills of a skilled negotiator, for him it’s only been about using the lowest, crudest and most unprincipled tactic that criminal types have in their arsenal…extortion.

Donald Trump started off in business with lots of wealth (far more than the $1 million he lies about as his only stake from his father) and since wealth always comes with a dominating power in business, Trump never had to learn how to use his wits to make deals, he always had the heavy club of power that his father’s wealth gave him. Having and exploiting the upper hand is all Trump had then and all he uses now to “negotiate”.

If you’re financing construction and you want a vendor to do more than he’s been paid for and agreed to do, refuse to pay him until you get what you want…and afterwards, punish him by never paying him. If you want to kill healthcare for 27 million people and some Senators won’t agree to it, don’t find a smart way to win their support, threaten to primary them or threaten to withhold government spending in their state.

And if a majority of Congress and America won’t approve the waste of billions of taxpayer money to build a worthless wall that you carelessly promised Mexico would pay for, hold the lives of 800,000 human beings hostage and threaten to destroy their futures if you don’t get your wall.

The news media has shown itself to be like the British butler in movies about a common person who suddenly inherits a castle. “Sir, that’s a fountain, it’s not for swimming. My word!” Trump blatantly does something horrifying and the media’s first response is often overly formal, describing his crassness as if they were translating from a foreign language. It took them a long time to finally describe his lies accurately as “lies”, they began by using all sorts of polite and couched terms like “unverified”, “contradictory”, “unsupported”, etc. A lie is a lie. Now, the MSM seems to get it.

With this latest disgusting action by Trump, the MSM initially responding to what is really an act of extortion by using words like “linking action”, “conditions” and “requiring” to dance around the admitted fact (as Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed yesterday) that the lives of 800,000 American residents are being used as bargaining chips to force Congress to provide billions for Trump’s wall.

What is the definition of extortion? From FindLaw:

What Is Extortion?

Most states define extortion as the gaining of property or money by almost any kind of force, or threat of 1) violence, 2) property damage, 3) harm to reputation, or 4) unfavorable government action.

So the threat of using government action to deport of 800,000 contributing, law-abiding people from across the country to get billions that are being denied Trump for his BS wall…is indeed extortion.

Trump’s killing of DACA was not about the law since none of the states threatening to sue over DACA have actually filed any suit and this is not about the Constitution since DACA could be maintained until or unless a court struck it down. This is naked politics, blatant extortion while Trump panders to his neo-nazi/racist base and uses the only “negotiating” tactic he knows to prevent his supporters from recognizing that he lied to them throughout the campaign.

If it wasn’t so serious, it might be amusing to witness Sanders saying out of one side of her mouth that they want Congress to fix DACA then out of the other side of her mouth, claiming that ending DACA will free up millions of jobs that legal citizens should have instead. Trump’s cynical goal in this is exposed once again by the lack of consistency and genuine intent behind his excuses, they all fall apart so easily except the central motivation.

White nationalism and the symbol of that for Trump and his voters, the wall. The monument he wants built as a tribute to his ego and his “brilliant” leveraging of racism and hatred to become president.

I do believe in the principle of not making deals with terrorists. Trump is a terrorist, using fear and intimidation to manipulate people into bowing to his wishes. I would ask Congress, Democrats, Republicans and Independents not to negotiate with an extortionist. You do not allow another party to threaten the lives of 800,000 people to get money for himself. You let Trump do this once, he will do it again.

Like most bullies, Trump is actually a coward and the way to negotiate with cowards is through strength and let their insecurity shatter them to pieces. Congress should draft a fix to DACA that does not include financing for this farce Trump calls a border wall. If Trump has the guts to veto it, which is unlikely, send an even more compassionate DACA bill to him. He can’t hold out against it, he has to pretend to be so strong because he isn’t.

Trump is becoming more isolated each day and to a narcissist, that’s like drowning. Congress can be “great” negotiators by having a strong understanding of their opponent’s weaknesses. Trump can’t stand being disliked and he really can’t stand looking like a failure. Congress should coax Trump along into approving a DACA fix by being unmoved by his threats and forcing him see how much more hated he will be in America if he tries to stand against it.

That’s something a narcissist just can’t stand.

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