Crumbs

In his characteristically crude manner, Donald Trump boasted a few weeks ago that foreign leaders were lining up to "kiss (his) ass" and plead for trade deals.

- ALEX MAGNO

Since then, he has so far failed to nail down any real agreements, properly detailed and documented. What we know of the results of negotiations with no more than a dozen countries are Trump's own wild interpretations released through his social media posts.

When Trump announced "reciprocal tariffs" on April 2, he managed to shock the world.

Then he backed down. Just days after, he postponed implementation of his unilateral tariff schedules by 90 days.

In the first week of this month, when those tariffs were supposed to come into effect, he announced a new deadline of Aug. 1. That happens next week. The markets are betting there will be another postponement.

Trump uses the threat of unrealistic tariff rates to bully every other nation on earth and grab everything on the table. Leaders of other nations have since learned how to cope with bullying by alternately flattering and frustrating the volatile US leader.

This week, Trump desperately needed a foreign leader to come to Washington and kiss his ass. The deadline he himself set was closing in. His presidency was suffering a serious decline in confidence, abetted by the Epstein scandal.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. obliged the flailing American leader. A working visit to Washington was hurriedly put together even if trade negotiations between our two countries had not budged. All he got for the effort were crumbs from Trump's table.

Hardly any negotiations happened. Trump dictated the terms. We accepted them.