President-elect Donald Trump understands, better than any recent American president, one simple rule when it comes to dealing with the world: Leverage matters and ought to be applied to those who oppose American interests.
Trump believes, for example, that tariffs ought to be used to threaten those who would close their markets to American products or flood America with fentanyl or manipulate the pricing system to their own benefit. He believes that maximum pressure ought to be unleashed on countries who seek to destabilize vital strategic regions to their own ends.
And he is correct.
Trump has often been characterized as a bully, both publicly and privately. But the reality of the world is simple: Someone will be doing the bullying, and someone will be bullied. The only question is which party is which. It turns out that if America ceases to use leverage against its…
