It’s mostly words

A mural by Berlin-based graffitti artist Eme Freethinker Trump and the tariff wars at the Mauerpark public park in Berlin, Germany. — AFP

FOR many parties everywhere now baffled and stunned over US trade policy, understanding some key fundamentals about Trump 2.0 is vital.

A continuing theme is that Trumpism is shaped and guided by a few basic impulses, which produce either empty rhetoric or policies subject to revision by reality. Not everything that President Donald Trump says can be taken equally seriously.