Trump Is Wrong to Oppose Nippon Steel Deal. And Yet...
The former president's objection to US Steel being bought by a Japanese rival was predictable. But what if he’s right to be worried?
Should he be taken seriously on this one? Perhaps.
Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg (2024)
For a man who once said that the only thing he liked about Japan was that the people bow instead of shaking hands,1 it should come as little surprise that Donald Trump opposes the potential takeover of United States Steel Corp. by a Japanese competitor.
“I would block it instantaneously. Absolutely,” Trump said of Nippon Steel Corp.’s bid, and this seems one of those times to take him both seriously and literally. While in recent years Trump is better known for his trade war with China, the former president has a long and storied history of Japan-bashing.