Donald Trump’s Asia trip has been a resounding success on many fronts.
While Democrats in Congress tread water trying to score political points, Trump is actually doing something to better America.
The president was able to hammer out a deal with China, but that was hardly the best news of this trip.
One of the biggest blows to the domestic economy during this battle with China, if you can believe it, has been to soybean farmers.
China customarily imports about 25% of its total soybean purchases from the United States, accounting for roughly 50% of all soybean production in this country. When the tariff war started, China stopped importing soybeans, crippling US farmers.
Per the deal that was just struck, China is expected to purchase 12 million metric tons of soybeans before the end of the year, and moving forward, it will import 25 million metric tons, putting it back on par with previous years.
Trump touted the deal on social media, adding, "Additionally, China has agreed to continue the flow of Rare Earth, Critical Minerals, Magnets, etc., openly and freely. Very significantly, China has strongly stated that they will work diligently with us to stop the flow of Fentanyl into our Country.”
In addition to the minerals and soybean deals, which would have been wonderful by themselves, Trump also got China to agree to a stronger fentanyl crackdown.
In exchange for the shift, Trump has agreed to reduce the tariffs China is currently being charged by a significant degree.
Trump stated of the Chinese leader, "I believe he’s going to work very hard to stop the death that’s coming in.”
The president has obviously escalated the war on drugs in this country in recent months, so this is yet another feather in his cap on that front.
I am not sure what is bigger news, the deal with China or the massive deal Trump made with South Korea, getting a $350 billion concession to lower tariffs. South Korea has also agreed to buy American gas and oil, yielding revenues Trump claims will exceed “$600 billion.”
As part of the deal, Korean Air will be purchasing more than 100 planes from Boeing, and the Republic of Korea Air Force plans to invest more than $2 billion with an American technology company to improve its aircraft.
In what I took as a poke against Democrats, South Korea presented Trump with a crown, and the ceremony immediately blew up on social media with conservatives mocking the No Kings protests recently held by liberals.
This trip was a huge success for Trump, and when you add in the recent deals with Malaysia and Thailand, I don’t think you will find another recent presidency that has had this much foreign policy success that also pushes the United States away from its dependency on its adversaries.