By – Glen Palaca Hubahib, Esq.

The Art of Deal:

Pres. Trump has been known for his book “The Art of Deal”. It is a pragmatic and aggressive approach to negotiation that leverage among others – opponent weakness. The strategy is credited for his business success and maybe time will tell his presidency.

Xi Jinping and Donald Trump are reading from different scripts. Image: ChatGPT Generated / Facebook (asiatimes.com)

 So, he has again employed the same approach in his tariff negotiation. And he starts with a bang and shocks the other party. Due to the US overspending and deficit, he decided to raise revenue through tariffs. That is levying more taxes on foreign goods. A pragmatic and sane approach to satisfy his MAGA base, the republicans and independents without rasing domestic taxes. It has a populist appeal and it is being spin as protecting American business and jobs.

Picture this, the data from the Treasury Department revealed that the government has spent $5.3 trillion while revenue collected is around $4.0 trillion in 2025. To date US debts is at $36.72 trillion and $9.2 trillion of that total will mature this year.

Americanactionforum.org

What weakness did he find from EU, Canada, Japan and the monarchs in the Middle East? Most likely security guarantee. Meaning these countries cannot defend on its own.

Now how about the Philippines. It is very telling. Aside from the sad state of our military equipment our top leaders in government are compromised.

  1. BBM  has a pending contempt order in the US (Rappler). His family have their assets seized, forfeited and cases pending since 1996;
  2. As reported by Manila Times, Sec. Gibo Teodoro has Maltese Citizenship. He has since denied it and accordingly renounced it in 2021 when he ran for senator (APnews);
  3. Because the death of Paolo Tantoco was caused by drug overdosed and coincidentally happened in the hotel where the Manila Film Festival tribute gala was held in Beverly Hills that FL Liza Marcos attended, the latter’s name was dragged into the controversy. The palace spokeperson has denied FL Marcos’ involvement. Coincidentally Dina Arroyo, Tantoco’s wife, is a Deputy Social Secretary of the Office of the President who was also present;
  4. Speaker Romouldez’ name has been mentioned 17 times in the decision of the Chancery Court of Delaware (26 Capital Acquisition Corp. vs Tiger Resort Asia Ltd, et al, C.A. No. 2023-0128-JTL) hinting of influence peddling and corruption. His office has since denied any involvement. But why does an American Court go in great lengths to mention his name in that decision?

With these apparent and perceived weaknesses, we can only surmise that it was a walk in the park for Pres. Trump and he got what he wanted. Once he smelled blood, he went in for the kill but smiling and praising. The best negotiator does not defeat and devour you. They want to see you again and obtain the same results. Just imagined if Fox, CNBC, CNN and American broadsheets ran stories on these weaknesses.

Furthermore, to rub a saIt into the wound Pres. Trump said, “We don’t mind you getting along with China. You should get along with China. We (US) get along with China.” It did not help for BBM after the post Oval Office presser that the tariff was not his decision. But when you capitulated on the demand then that becomes your decision and why would you spend time and money to get 1%?

Mitigating your losses:

The Philippine government could have mitigated by asking special visas for our nurses, teachers, and IT workers. Because the US president has wide immigration discretion, he can carve out something using an executed order. The Philippines is an ally and the oldest treaty partner in Asia, and we could have use that as leverage.

[Note: Glen Palaca Hubahib is admitted to practice law in California and the Philippines. He also holds Electrical Engineering and MBA degrees. He is a resource speaker every 2nd and last Monday of the month of the highly rated “Open Forum” radio program of Ms. Ardy Araneta-Batoy and Gloria Leodivica Araneta at station DYTR. The article is for information only and is not a legal advice. Send your comments to the author at hubahibg@gmail.com.]