'He does nothing without a quid pro quo'

[babylonsister]

‘He does nothing without a quid pro quo’
How Trump’s New York negotiating style clashed with the ways of Washington — and landed him on the brink of impeachment.
By DANIEL LIPPMAN
11/15/2019 05:01 AM EST


President Donald Trump has always viewed life through the prism of his next real estate deal, betting he can just bulldoze opponents into giving him what he wants. But Washington doesn’t work that way.

Now, as he battles an impeachment inquiry that sprang from his alleged attempt to bully a foreign leader, those who know Trump say it’s in large measure because he never made the switch from the brash, no-holds-barred New York businessman portrayed in “The Art of the Deal” to the president of a country governed by laws and norms of behavior.

“He’s used to getting what he wants and he’s a tough street guy,” said Billy Procida, a former vice president for the Trump Organization. “He’s been dealing with subcontractors his whole life. You know what it’s like to deal with subcontractors? They’re all terrorists. They all want more money for the job and then you’ve got to fight them and say, ‘OK, quid pro quo, I’m going to give you this, you do that, I’ll give you this, you do that, if you don’t do this, I’m going to do that.’”

The disjuncture between the table-pounding imperatives of New York real estate and the delicacies of international diplomacy helps explain, these people say, why Trump is having trouble understanding why his “perfect” phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, may have crossed a line.

“He does nothing without a quid pro quo,” said a former White House official. “Nothing. Whatever deal has got to be to his advantage.”

“He treats a lot of conversations and a lot of negotiations, including with foreign leaders, along those lines,” said another former White House official. “‘What is it that you want? Here’s what we want.’ How can we find a way to reach some kind of deal or accommodation where we both get what we want but in particular where I, representing the U.S., get what I want.”

more...

https://www.politico.com/news/2019/11/15/trump-style-quid-pro-quo-impeachment-071052

[Wounded Bear]

1. Well, d'uh...

Ya think?

[world wide wally]

2. But, what he wants, is always for him, personally. Not the country.

[ismnotwasm]

3. Yes. He's a sleazy asshole.

[Mike 03]

4. This is why we should follow up on Thomas Friedman's hint and look again at

moving the US embassy to Jerusalem. Friedman was dismayed Trump asked for nothing in return--but did he get something in return, or was he paying back a favor? Remember how rapidly that decision was made? It always seemed strange.

[FakeNoose]

5. Or we could ask his son-in-law who surely knows

Maybe in this case Jared Kushner worked the quid pro quo. He was certainly in on it from Day One.

[smirkymonkey]

6. K&R

[unblock]

7. trying to blur transactional negotiation with self-serving extortion

there's nothing wrong with negotiating a deal where both parties get something in exchange. ukraine you do this for america, america will do that for ukraine. nothing illegal about that. it's prefectly normal and some republicans are trying to pretend that that's all there is to this story.

well, one-on-one transactional negotiating is limited, and it can blind one to the broader strategies necessary in global politics, but that's another story.

the problem is one of agency. potus is supposed to negotiate as an agent of the united states. he's supposed to use america's power and resources to get something from ukraine for the benefit of america.

what donnie did was misappropriate the powers of the united states and of the presidency for his own personal benefit, trying to extort ukraine into giving *him* something of personal advantage to *him*, while at the same time putting various other americans at a disadvantage (the bidens).

*that* is the problem.

it's not that a quid pro quo exists, it's that the parties in the deal were *donnie* and ukraine instead of *america* and ukraine.

[onethatcares]

8. fuck his dealing style

what it really boils down to is "I got a lot of money and lawyers on the payroll. If you don't take what I give you I'll bury you in attorney fees".

[eppur_se_muova]

9. He's not "having trouble understanding". He refuses even to try to understand ...

... or even to inform himself. He just tries to bully everyone into doing everything his way. His way is the stupid way, and professionals in DC can see that.

[maxsolomon]

10. "You know what it's like to deal with subcontractors? They're all terrorists."

No, they are not, Trump Org asshole.

They want more money because you are asking them to do work that is beyond the scope of their contract. Contracting is governed by RULES AND LAWS.

[dlk]

11. Excellent reasons why a businessman in the White House is a terrible idea

Business and politics are very different worlds and as we’ve seen with Trump, success in one arena doesn’t always translate well into the other.