Trump’s Huawei de-escalation plans face broad domestic opposition

President Donald Trump might be about to find out, once again, that he cannot do whatever he pleases in the Oval Office, especially when it comes to national security.

A few tweets have emerged over the last couple of days which indicate prominent Senators are going to be standing in the way of the Trump grand plan. Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer have both voiced opposition to Trump’s plans to let Huawei off the hook to get trade discussions with China back on track.

What Trump has done over the last couple of months is something which might have worked in the world of private business, but it does not seem to be a legitimate strategy from a politician. The President built the hype surrounding Huawei as a national security threat to impose legislation in an attempt to cripple the firm, but now wants to step back.

It seems the demonstration of power has been enough, now Trump wants to offer an olive branch to the Chinese while he seemingly has the upper-hand in the trade talks. Unfortunately, the two prominent Senators are reading from the same playbook.

Rubio and Schumer have seemingly bought into the idea of Huawei as a threat to national security, and do not believe protections of US citizens can be used as a playing card in the international game of poker Trump is attempting to mastermind.

The message from the two Senators seems to be clear here; if Huawei is a national security threat, as the President has made so clear, it remains so. Just because there is an advantage to be claimed in the political game of trade talks doesn’t change the impression of Huawei.

We suspect Trump hasn’t fully grasped the dynamics of politics. This sort of play, a demonstration of power and influence, might have worked in private industry where Trump rules with iron authority, but that is not the way politics operates. There is a separation of power, with Congress holding the White House accountable and preventing abuses of power.

This is of course not the first time this dynamic has been exposed. During the ZTE saga, Trump demonstrated the power of the US economy to the Chinese and then wanted to stand-down. Congress proved to be a difficult compatriot to Trump in this instance, and it seems it wants to do so again.

What this could mean is a return to the status quo of uncertainly and passive aggressive tariffs. If the security conscious Senators get their way, Huawei would still remain an enemy of the state and the world will return to the political purgatory which has dominated the headlines for the last 12 months. If Huawei remains in the US crosshairs, Chinese demands are not being met and we suspect trade talks with stagnate once again.

What we will leave you decide is how much of this saga is political opportunism.

Let’s say Trump doesn’t believe Huawei is a national security threat and this entire incident has been a strategy to gain greater influence in the trade talks with China, we wonder if Rubio and Schumer are simply taking advantage of the situation also. Rubio is an opponent of Trump with ambitions of representing the Republicans in the White House, while Schumer and the Democrats will want to make life as difficult for Trump wherever possible.

Perhaps we are being overly cynical. We’ll let you come to your own conclusions.