Crossed Wires: Why Trump’s wild swing at China was met with a knuckle sandwich

Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face

This quote, brimming with pith, is from Mike Tyson: It was his response when asked whether he had considered Evander Holyfield’s fight plan. 

Trump just got punched in the face. Really hard. By China.

One likes to think that powerful people in charge of superpowers, with their hands on the levers of very big global machines, do some scenario planning when they consider a strategic action. You know, game theory. If we do this and they do that, then we will respond by doing the other. That sort of thing.

Trump, on the other hand, ever proud of his “gut feel”, just took a wild swing at China and not only did he miss but he found himself on the receiving end of a knuckle sandwich. You can see it in his suddenly uncertain bravado. As for Comm...
[Short citation of 8% of the original article]