Trump Has a Plan to Break Up the EU

The podcast is back! Josh Green is back for his third episode of the Josh Marshall Show. As you’ve learned from earlier episodes, Josh has great sources inside the Trump campaign, especially with Trump advisor Steve Bannon, formerly chief at Breitbart. One thing we get into in this episode is part of the Trump global plan which has gotten very, very little attention. Trump plans – using the good offices of Nigel Farage, at least is a go-between – to boost the UK’s leverage in its Brexit negotiations by moving quickly to conclude a free trade agreement with the UK. They may not be able to do this while the UK is still negotiating its divorce from the EU. That’s at least technically not allowed. But by putting on the table a package, ready and waiting, they hope to strengthen the UK’s bargaining position with the EU. From there is where it gets interesting. Trump hopes to follow, using the model of the US-UK deal to strike separate bilateral trade deals with Germany, France and down the line, in essence breaking up the EU. There are numerous problems with the effects this would have, both economic and geopolitical, whether this is even possible and much more. But what I took from our discussion is that Trump and Bannon are planning a far more radical upending of the global trade and geopolitical order than I think most anyone imagines. Click here to hear Episode #10 of the Josh Marshall Show.