Donald Trump announced a "major" trade deal with Britain on Thursday, but many details of the deal remained in later discussions, with many congratulatory blows in the Oval Office.
Trump’s rush to demand his controversial tariff policy win, which puts many in the grasp of this: deals, agreements, frameworks? Observers predict that the upcoming negotiations could take several months.
“Yes, we can get some details done, but there is a great platform here,” Keir Starmer said in the hands of the speaker, who revealed the results to reporters on Thursday.
Trade agreements are usually announced only after these details are phased out. But in this case, Trump seems to want to trade publicly in public and announce to the world that the United States is ready to negotiate.
The announcement on Thursday was the most eye-catching, said Gary Hufbauer, a non-resident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for Peterson Institute for Trund Sentitute, a non-resident researcher at the Peterson Institute for Peterson Institute for Trund Sentitute, a Washington-based nonpartisan thinker. This may increase expectations for further deals with other countries, including Japan, South Korea, Australia and even the EU.
"The biggest reward for Trump is today's market reaction in the U.S. political response to his overall (tariff) policy," Hufbauer said. "Here, we will get this announcement before the UK and the U.S., for political purposes and hope that the details won't kill the deal."
The newly cast British ambassador Lord Mandelson announced the wording of Winston Churchill in the Oval Office on Thursday. He called the deal “not the end…it was the end of the beginning.”
“We can do more in reducing tariffs and trade barriers to keep our markets open to each other, even more than we agree to do today,” he said.
The Oval Office reporter is more direct. "Obviously, there is more work to be done," said Sky News, a U.S. correspondent. “Respect, did you exaggerate the coverage and significance of this deal because you are a president who needs results in difficult times?”
If Trump feels there is some air in his big announcement, he doesn't show it.
"It's a great thing," Trump said. "Because we have a lot of countries that want to reach an agreement, many are very upset, and we happen to choose this country to be honest with you."
He added that Britain is perhaps "our oldest ally". “I think it will be very special for the UK, and for the US, it will be very special.”
Trump added that it was "honor" to work with British negotiators to reach a deal.
The U.S. stock market is passionate about the news about the deal. But the news is mainly a "negotiable agreement" that could face tough issues, such as UK restrictions on U.S. agriculture and meat exports, and tariffs on foreign film shootings recently announced by Trump.
"I don't think Trump is likely to want it to go bankrupt, but the negotiations may continue for a while," Hufbauer said.
It seems that there is political will to move forward. During the Oval Office meeting, Mandelson said Trump called Keir Starmer in a "very typical 11-hour intervention."
Mandelson, perhaps in the highest praise, said Trump drove a hard bargaining demand "more from this deal than any of us would have expected."