“Brexit. Brexit was backed, incidentally, by many of the same unprincipled rapacious folk who back Trump.”

Indeed, and excellent points. It doesn’t appear to be coincidental that Brexit occurred exactly at the same time Trump began running for office; it was a classic Russian misinformation campaign, and exactly what would be needed for the three spheres of influence to be executed flawlessly.

The complete decoupling of Great Britain (one of two nuclear powers (France being the second) in Western Europe; separating them from the rest of the continent, and keeping Great Britain dependent on the US, and in the US’s orbit.

And agreed, none of this is trade related; just exercises to enact his most depraved policies both domestically and internationally.

For example, a trade account balance with another country isn’t just the difference between gross exports minus imports, so when Trump says other countries are running surpluses and screwing us, it’s a misnomer.

The trade account balance includes capital outflows and inflows, so if another country has an equal trade balance or close to it, investments into the US (capital inflows) would create a surplus (liabilities on the trade account balance for the US).