Has anybody noticed that Donald Trump's MO seems to be to declare or invent a crisis where none exists; to make or obtain some minor, cosmetic changes; and then to declare the problem solved (through toughness) and congratulate himself on "another" major victory? Examples:
- NAFTA: he declared it the worst deal ever made (which he says about almost all deals before he took office). Then he negotiated some very minor changes with Canada and Mexico (under threat of massive tariffs), and announced the US-Canada-Mexico agreement as a triumph of his diplomacy.
- Iran: after tearing up the nuclear agreement, he imposed massive sanctions on Iran and declared the Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization. Then he announced that Iran was making threatening moves in the Middle East and ordered an aircraft carrier and more troops to move in (though it turned out the carrier deployment had been scheduled long before). When the words on both sides cooled a bit, he announced that Iran had thought better of its aggressive plans so the manufactured crisis had eased. Another victory!
- Mexico: just this past week, he threatened huge tariff increases against Mexico if it didn't halt the flow of Central American refugees through Mexico to the US border. Then, just hours before committing to the first increase, he said that Mexico had agreed to his terms--plus agreed to start buying lots more American agricultural products--and in light of their concession he was cancelling the tariffs: another huge diplomatic victory for his get-tough policies. Turns out that what Mexico did agree to had been pretty much planned for months, and it did not agree to any additional terms including agricultural purchases.
Even with the 2018 elections--a nation-wide disaster for Republicans--he said that it was a complete victory except for a couple of minor setbacks (e.g., loss of the House of Representatives and local and state elections all over the country).
If he's forced to back down, or mostly back down, in his trade war with China, I wouldn't be surprised to see him use the same tactics to claim victory.