With all respect, the linked article reflects a lack of understanding about how hard ball negotiations are done.

Trump’s primary direct objectives with both Mexico and Canada is to get them to control their borders(to significantly reduce the influx of drugs and undesirable illegal aliens, and reduce barriers to trade for American goods into Mexico & Canada, respectively.

Indirect objectives are to discourage foreign investment in Mexico for goods which are to be made predominantly for the American marketplace.

Sophisticated negotiators don’t reveal how their intended objectives are to be met via an obvious tactic.

I’ll admit to having never participated in a negotiation involving politician. (My role in negotiations are usually behind the scenes stuff; my experience is in B2B realm.)

From Trump’s first term, we know that he says things for public dissemination that makes the public think that they understand both the objectives of a negotiation and the tactics by which the objective will be achieved. By now, attentive Americans should realize that his stated objectives are sincere, but that his stated negotiations tactics are smoke and deception. This is the smart thing to do; smart negotiators never publicly reveal all of their tactics and often not all of their objectives.

The linked article exposes an author who doesn’t understand how these things work.