Agreeing to a trade deal with China, 73-year-old president Donald Trump silenced his critics, ending a contentious two-year period that took as much as one percent of global GDP. While Europe and Asia have suffered from a sluggish economy, U.S. markets have been left relatively unscathed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Nasdaq and S&P 500 hitting numerous record highs in 2019. Announcing today that he’ll sign a trade deal with Chinese President Xi Jingping sometime in January 2020, Trump signaled that he means business heading into an Election Year. Democrats hoped that impeachment can get rid of Trump beforethe strong economy propels him to a second term. House Democrats and Senate Republicans are in a pitched impeachment battle, with Democrats claiming they can’t get a fair trial in the U.S. Senate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called Democrats’ complaints hogwash, citing bias in House impeachment proceedings, refusing to let the White House participate.
House Democrats led by Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Judiciary Chairman Jerold Nadler (D-N.Y.) refused to let Republicans introduce or cross-examine witnesses, all proclaiming they had an open-and-shut case against Trump. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi jointed the impeachment bandwagon saying Trump was guilty as charged. Yet once Democrats voted in articles of impeachment Dec. 17, Pelosi refused to turnover articles of impeachment to the Senate, claiming McConnell was denying them a fair trial Schumer contends that Democrats want to call more witnesses at trial, especially White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and Office of Management and Budget employee Michael Duffey. Schumer claims Duffey emailed the Defense Department to notify them about Trump’s decision to withold $391 million in funding for Ukraine. Yet Duffey acknowledged that Trump looked into Urkaiian funding in June 2020.
Democrats entire case against Trump stems from a Sept. 25 “whistleblower” complain, claiming Trump conditioned Ukrainian defense funding on Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky digging up dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden and his 50-year-old son Hunter. Hunter worked for a Ukrainian energy company called Burisma Holdings Trump’s Sept. 25 transcript of his call with Zelensky indicates he was more interest in Hunter, than Joe, the last time anyone checkd was not running for elective office.. Democrats know that there’s nothing wrong with going after Hunter, no matter how he’s related to Joe. Members of tahe media contend that it’s illegal for Trump to go after Joe and Hunter. With the impeachment eclipsing the economy, it’s no wonder Trump can’t get any traction heading into the 2020 election. When you consider the end to the trade war, its gives Trump more momentum heading into the Election Year. Voters tend to vote their own self-interest.
Trump said that China wanted to end the trade war more than the U.S., where the economy has outperformed the world. If he can get the impeachment off his back, Trump will have smooth sailing heading into the 2020 election. Trump was confident he could get Xi to agree to a trade deal more favorable to the U.S. White House trade representative Robert Lighthizer and chief economist Peter Navarro have worked tirelessly to compete the trade deal, experiencing frequent setbacks. No matter how complex the deal, the press would criticize the president’s work toward a trade deal. Now that it’s happening, Democrats can only cry sour grapes, complaining about an economy with a 2.1% third-quarter Gross Domestic Product [GDP], moving the economy away from recession. Trump’s detractors hoped his economy would collapse to give Democrats a better shot in 2020. As it stands now, only the impeachment can stop Trump from reelection.
Recent polls have shown that a majority of Americans oppose removing Trump from office, beginning to doubt the Democrats impeachment case. House and Senate Republicans have called the Democrats’ impeachment case so weak, not charging Trump with any real crimes. Once accusing Trump of “bribery” and “obstruction of justice,” Democrats settled for two impeachment articles, one about abuse of powers and the other about obstruction of Congress. Constitutional scholars, like emeritus Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz, has called Democrats’ impeachment case unconstitutional. Focusing on the economy is the worst thing that can happen for Democrats. It’s difficult to make a case against the economy when all prevailing metrics put the economy in the strongest position in 50 years. Trump’s Phase 1 trade deal with China makes Democrats squirm, knowing, in the final analysis, most voters care about basic pocketbook issues.
China’s Trade Deal with China is good news for the U.S., Asia and Europe, struggling to shake off the rust after a period of slow growth With the 10-year Treasury Bond near 2% again, it looks like interest rates are rising along with improvements in the economy. If the IMF is right, fourth quarter GDP could hit 3%, something unheard of last year. Trump promised in 2016 a 4% GPD growth, only to watch Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell raise interest rates three times. Cutting rates three times in 2019, Powell has done his part to stimulate the economy, asking Trump to end the trade war with China. Now that that that’s happened, there are few obstacles left to spur more economic growth in 2020. More economic growth in 2020 means Trump gets another four years, unless House and Senate Democrats can figure out how to get rid of him. McConnell won’t let Democrats sabotage the Senate impeachment trial when it finally happens.
