WARNING: This article is full of spoilers!
A Solution to the Controversial Trade War?
President Trump has garnered a lot of attention for bringing the world its first ever Twitter-based presidency. He uses the social platform as his own personal political tool. And since he’s the most powerful man in the world, his Twitter has often transcended into becoming somewhat of an assault weapon.
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The president’s tweets cover the news, set policy and legislation and even threaten his enemies. To cut a long story short, his Twitter feed is an embodiment of his desire to project to the world an image of a strong and dominant leader.
Sound familiar?
In recent episodes, we have gotten to know Daenerys Targaryen, GOT’s most controversial character, as someone who is more deeply connected to power and dominance than to empathy. Her motivations, although originally portrayed as caring, began centering too much around the idea of revenge.
The Breaker of Chains, the Rightful Queen, the Protector of the Realm and the Mother of Dragons… Unfortunately, the heroic character revered by all went mad and ultimately caused her own demise.
So what does the complex GOT character have in common, if anything, with the beloved reality star, turned most controversial president in the world?
Did her war have any parallels with the Trade War currently raging? And if so, what can the President learn from Khaleesi to avoid an absolute disaster?
Big Trade War Lessons from GOT’s Final Episodes
The Transformation from Hero to Villain
Donald’s determination to make America Great Again does have some similarities to Dany’s determination to make the Seven Kingdoms great again.
Not unlike Trump’s rise to power, Daenerys started off as a hero of the people. She pursued a war to bring peace and exterminate tyranny. Unfortunately, Khaleesi ended up following in her father’s footsteps and became enveloped in rage and paranoia.
She set out for revenge for her family and for Rhegal’s death at Blackwater Bay. And she certainly got it – but, at the huge price of becoming the Mad Queen, slaughtering thousands of innocent people in the process.
Daenerys never listened to reason; and that ultimately led to her defeat.
What Can Trump Take from Dany’s Death
This is perhaps the number one thing that Trump can take from Khaleesi’s story: the importance of listening to reason.
Trump’s trade war neither has nor will have any winners. Everyone knows that no one emerges victorious from a trade war. All sides are harmed, even when it seems like there are little wins for each camp from time to time.
Unfortunately, Trump is seemingly not convinced by this. He has remained adamant on continuing the war, using threatening rhetoric and ratcheting up tariffs.
Say, does anyone remember why Jon thought about killing Daenerys? Well, it was because she threatened to kill his sisters.
Creating enemies who will have vendettas against you is never a good route to take. And in order to avoid the same “Mad President” fate as Daenerys, it would perhaps be a better idea for Trump to fix relations, rather than keep up with attacks across all fields and against every continent.
At the end of the day, American and Chinese families are the ones who stand to get the most hurt by this, both economically and socially. Other countries will follow as governments try to combat downside trade effects. Just like what happened in the “The Bells” episode!
Trump Moves Strategically But That’s NOT Enough
Despite the recent strategic team-up with Canada and Mexico, (reminiscent of the rather poor attempt of an alliance between Jon, Dany, and Cersei) the latest raise on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods suggests further trouble and escalation of the war. And now, President Trump has imposed tariffs on Mexico again! Surely this can’t be another one of his negotiating tactics?
Whatever the case, it does remind us of the moment Dany and Cersei finally decided to battle!
A few weeks ago, Trump pulled out all the stops and banned US companies from dealing with Huawei This was an attempt to oust them from the tech sphere. Sort of like when Daenerys imprisoned Tyrion…
Now just to jog our memories, exactly who was it that convinced Jon to kill Daenerys? Well, there you go. It’s never a good idea to leave a trail of people who resent you behind! And this number is rising…
Delaying auto-tariffs in the EU and Japan can be considered a good strategic move. But simply delaying the tariffs doesn’t take them off the table completely. It only gives Trump time to deal with each enemy separately.
Discussions and NOT Party-Politics Bring Prosperity
The two events we mentioned are really what marked Daenerys’ transformation from Khalesi to the Mad Queen. After that, it was pretty much a snowball effect.
So, Trump should look to her downfall and learn to adjust his behavior accordingly. My advice to him would be to avoid any and all monumental, transformational and irreversible decisions from being made. The stakes are high because if he continues to take Huawei or Mexico-like steps, he could lose control and cause the next financial crash.
And investors are cautious as to how the Fed is going to offer bailout on that!
Had Daenerys listened, she could have reversed her Mad Queen fate. So Trump should use this as an example, and take a step back from the war. Besides, there’s plenty to focus on, including the issues facing his administration and the 2020 elections.
Many will argue that the trade war escalation was not a tipping point for Trump, but rather the official beginning of the trade war. But do semantics really matter?
At the end of the day, what matters most is that with the way things have gone, Trump has made no allies along the way – certainly none that he could call on in case of an emergency. And, unfortunately, no dragon can swoop in and save him or his people from the destructive impact of this war!
