Bombastic as ever, President Trump has had so much success at making deals during his whirlwind trip to the Far East, one marvels at his brilliance while wondering why he took so long to secure these monumental pacts on the international trading platform.
"We did reach a deal on trade," Trump told reporters at a dinner in South Korea. No additional details about the agreement were provided, and neither the White House nor South Korean officials have issued an official statement outlining the terms.
Trump called his meetings with South Korea "tremendous" and said he had "pretty much finalized a trade deal," adding, "I think we came to a conclusion on a lot of very important items."
Well, perhaps, as concrete goes, all of these "deals" are still in the mixing state, the sand and water more or less a slurried mush at present and the Thai, Malay, Viet, and Korean officials are snickering behind Mr Big's back. That's likely the case, as all this posturing and posing and taking pictures of foreign leaders with Trump stationed in the middle of them - despite the fact that he doesn't even belong in a group of "Southeast Asians" or even just plain "Asians" - is all for the benefit of the usual unsuspecting, fawning, MAGA crowd who hangs on every utterance of the pulchritudinous, porcine president.
Scrupulous examination of the struck deals over the past few days indicate a nearly absence of substance, the words on the official-looking proclamations barely worth the fine linen papers upon which they're written. But, with a few deft strokes of the presidential pen - most likely a Sharpie™ that Trumps' sons, Eric and Don Jr. will sell on eBay or some crypto exchange as an NFT for millions - the public is assuaged and Wall Street assured that the American enterprise will continue to grow and prosper under the inspired leadership of the greatest president since, well, George Washington, as Mr. Trump like to fashion himself.
It's almost over. The Far East fantasy tour finishes on Thursday with the highly-anticipated deal Mr. Trump will make with China, all of China. Not just the coastal areas, or the shipping ports, but the entire land mass which occupies a rather enormous portion of Asia will succumb to Trump’s desire for world domination.
Mr. Trump's mission impossible - which will self-destruct only moments after the invisible ink dries on whatever papers are signed by him and whatever representatives of China's ruling party are designated - is to convince President Xi Jinping to stop sending precursor chemicals for fentanyl to America, stop buying oil from Russia, make life easier of U.S. enterprises doing business in China, accept 15-45% tariffs on anything they export to America, buy shiploads of soybeans from American farmers, and sell the U.S. copious amounts of refined rare earth minerals with which the U.S. military can make weapons by which to obliterate China and its BRICS allies.
If those requirements seem a bit over the top, it's best to be cognizant of the president's uncanny, almost spiritual ability to make the sharpest "America First" deals with every country on the planet (or, at least talk like he does). Trump will return to the United States triumphant, trade wars averted or won, the mantle of success and victory upon his broad shoulders.
At the same time, his government, back home in Washington D.C., can't even keep the lights on, the whole institution burdened by no less than $38 trillion in unpayable debts, shut down for more than four full weeks, and about to deny some 41 or 42 million Americans their monthly allowance for potato and corn chips, salsa, sodas, cookies, ice cream and maybe a couple of lobster tails and steaks.
Some 700,000 federal employees have been working without pay for a month. In some circles, that's known as slavery. In America, it's called paying it forward, or, as the case may be, just putting it on the government's tab.
Considering that Mr. Trump attends their conference with this kind of background baggage, China's diplomats and officials will no doubt acquiesce to his every demand.
But, before Trump's triumphant trade tour concludes, the Federal Reserve, which is not federal in any sense nor does it have any reserves - only debts - is set to issue its policy statement, assuredly to lower the federal funds target rate from 4.00-4.25% to a range of 3.75-4.00% at 2:00 pm ET today. That, of course, will send stocks soaring, along with gold and silver, especially since the pair of precious metals have been sufficiently beaten down over the past two weeks. Not so for the stock market, which has run up a string of advances befitting assets that actually have value, of which, as we know from the current reading of the Shiller PE at 41.18, stocks are significantly stretched.
BTW: the Shiller PE (CAPE) is closing in fast toward the record of 44.19, set back in the halcyon days of the dotcom boom, in December 1999.
Wealth and prosperity, so easily come by, can just as quickly disappear. But, having learned nothing from booms and busts of the 1920s and 30s, and as recently as 2000-01 and 2008-09, investors are blindsided and blinkered, praying for the best and hoping the worst of their fears remain unrealized.
The show goes on. Get more popcorn.
At the Close, Tuesday, October 28, 2025:Dow: 47,706.37, +161.78 (+0.34%)
NASDAQ: 23,827.49, +190.04 (+0.80%)
S&P 500: 6,890.89, +15.73 (+0.23%)
NYSE Composite: 21,689.55, -100.08 (-0.46%)
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