{"id":45714,"date":"2026-04-09T12:31:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T12:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=45714"},"modified":"2026-04-09T12:31:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T12:31:14","slug":"how-to-defeat-trump-every-time-robert-reich","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=45714","title":{"rendered":"How to defeat Trump every time | Robert Reich"},"content":{"rendered":"


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A<\/span>n hour before Trump said he\u2019d cause the death of a \u201cwhole civilization\u201d if Iran didn\u2019t open the strait of Hormuz, an Iranian official said<\/a> the shipping channel would be reopened for two weeks if the United States stopped bombing Iran. The US has now stopped bombing Iran.<\/p>\n

So we\u2019re back to the status quo before<\/em> Trump began his war. Only now, Iran<\/a> can credibly threaten to close the strait if it doesn\u2019t get what it wants from Trump \u2013 thereby causing havoc to the US and world economies. Trump\u2019s only remaining bargaining chip is his threat of committing war crimes.<\/p>\n

In other words, Tuesday\u2019s showdown was a clear victory for Iran and a clear defeat for Trump (although he\u2019ll frame it as a victory).<\/p>\n

The Iran fiasco is only the latest in a host of examples revealing how to defeat Trump.<\/p>\n

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In addition to Iran, similar strategies have been used by China, Russia, Canada, Mexico and Greenland.<\/p>\n

Inside the United States, the people of Minneapolis have used them, as have Harvard University<\/a>, comedian Jimmy Kimmel, writer E Jean Carroll and the law firms Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, Susman Godfrey, and WilmerHale.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the strategy that connects them all? All refused to cave to Trump, despite his superior military or economic power.<\/p>\n

Instead, they\u2019ve engaged in a kind of jiujitsu in which they use Trump\u2019s power against him, while allowing Trump to save face by claiming he\u2019s won. Consider:<\/p>\n

Iran knew it was no match for the superior might of the US (and Israel). So it used cheap drones and missiles to close the strait of Hormuz and incapacitate other Gulf oil installations, thereby driving up the prices of oil and gas at the pump in the US, which has put growing political pressure on Trump, months before a midterm election. Hence, Trump has been forced to pause his war.<\/p>\n

China knew what to do when Trump imposed a giant tariff on Chinese exports to the US: it put restrictions on seven types of heavy rare earth metals and magnets, crucial to US defense and tech industries. Beijing continues to use these rare earth restrictions as tactical levers in ongoing negotiations over trade, rather than demand complete surrender by Trump on his trade policies.<\/p>\n

Russia has leveraged its vast deposits of oil and natural gas in gaining leverage over US allies. It has also demonstrated its potential ability to intrude into US elections (the Mueller report<\/a> detailed a \u201csweeping and systematic\u201d campaign by Russia to interfere in the 2016 US presidential election, primarily favoring Trump).<\/p>\n

Canada and Mexico have won tariff showdowns with Trump by leveraging the US\u2019s substantial economic dependence on them for components and raw materials, but without crowing about their victories.<\/p>\n

Greenland has leveraged public opinion globally and in the United States \u2013 overwhelmingly against an American invasion or occupation \u2013 to curb Trump\u2019s ambitions there.<\/p>\n

Now, as to what\u2019s happened inside the United States:<\/p>\n

The citizens of Minneapolis and St Paul have leveraged their asymmetric power against Trump\u2019s ICE and border patrol agents by carefully organizing themselves into a force of non-violent resistance to protect immigrants there.<\/p>\n

Harvard University\u2019s strategy for resisting Trump\u2019s interference in Harvard\u2019s academic freedom has been to leverage its influence with the federal courts in Boston and the court of appeals for the first circuit, to get rulings that stopped Trump (although he\u2019s still trying).<\/p>\n