Donald Trump backed down to China on Thursday. After having talked on the phone with the president of Taiwan in December and subsequently suggesting that he might abandon the one-China policy, Trump had a talk with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and:
“The two leaders discussed numerous topics and President Trump agreed, at the request of President Xi, to honor our one-China policy,” the White House statement said.
In return, Xi said he “appreciated his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, for stressing that the U.S. government adheres to the one-China policy,” which he called the “political basis” of relations between the two nations, state news agency Xinhua reported.
Remember when Trump was promising there was going to be so much winning we’d be tired of winning? Couple his Muslim ban’s court defeat (which, to be fair, did feel like a win to many of us) with this backing down to China, then throw in National Security Adviser Mike Flynn’s Russia lies, and here’s how NBC’s First Read crew leads off:
Every president gets humbled in office, but never as early or the way in which all of the defeats and bad news piled up Thursday for Donald Trump.
Perhaps seeking to change the subject or perhaps because he’s just that inept, Trump attacked the New York Times with a tweet claiming “major FAKE NEWS China story” because a Times story said that Trump hadn’t spoken with Xi since November 14, but “We spoke at length yesterday!” The story he was referring to was—of course—written before his call with Xi and was subsequently rewritten to cover that call.
When you’re a narcissist who can’t pretend you didn’t just back down, screaming “FAKE NEWS” may feel like the only way out.