Chris Truax: Why Trump's strategy of negotiation through intimidation is a losing one

[Eugene]

Source: The Hill

Opinion - Why Trump’s strategy of negotiation through intimidation is a losing one

Chris Truax, opinion contributor
Fri, February 28, 2025 at 9:00 AM EST 4 min read

President Trump is actually quite a bad negotiator. To understand the president’s negotiation style, ignore his ghost-written “Art of The Deal” and take a look at a book called “Winning Through Intimidation.” Though it’s largely forgotten now, it was a bestseller when originally published back in 1973.

The book — written by a real estate broker — has a simple message. There are two kinds of people in the business world: the people who get screwed over and the people who do the screwing. The No.1 reason people get taken advantage of is that they get intimidated by the other side.

So, if you want good deals, you should be intimidating. ...

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The irony is that the book also cautions against being intimidated by other negotiators, a lesson Trump hasn’t learned. Trump is regularly intimidated by those he perceives as more wealthy or more powerful. How else do you explain his public deference to Elon Musk or his fawning over Vladimir Putin?

On top of that, Trump is too emotional and too easily manipulated to be a good negotiator. Even his supporters admit that. For example, JD Vance cautioned Volodymyr Zelensky not to criticize Trump, saying, “The idea that Zelensky is going to change the president’s mind by badmouthing him in public media … everyone who knows the president will tell you that is an atrocious way to deal with this administration.”

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Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/opinion-why-trump-strategy-negotiation-140000247.html

[sop]

1. Mafia Don doesn't negotiate, he makes an offer they can't refuse: sign the contract or I'll blow your brains out.

This is a textbook example of a mob protection racket "negotiation": demand a cut of future profits from a business at gunpoint, in exchange for protection from further violence or destruction:

"Trump’s efforts to strong-arm Zelensky into an agreement that would hand the U.S. a 50 percent interest in the Ukrainian economy in exchange for nothing at all is an excellent example of this negotiating style. Trump combined an outrageous opening offer with threats to punish Ukraine if Zelensky didn’t immediately accept his terms. When Zelensky balked, Trump attacked him personally."