Cover of the book ‘Trump: The Art of the Deal’ on the left and US Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) on the right. Reproduction Last Tuesday morning (7), Donald Trump issued an ultimatum for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz, or ‘an entire civilization would die that night’. Ten hours later, however, the US president announced the suspension of the threat after a round of negotiations with the Iranians. For experts in international law, the threats, if carried out, could be war crimes. Trump’s origins, however, are not in politics or diplomacy, but in the New York real estate market of the 70s and 80s. His conduct, at first glance contradictory, follows exactly some of the negotiation patterns that the US president cites in his book “Trump: The Art of the Deal” (in Portuguese, “The Art of Negotiation”). 📱Download the g1 app to see news in real time and for free In the best-seller written in partnership with journalist Tony Schwartz and published in November 1987, Trump brings together the principles that guided the negotiations of his career as a contractor in the United States. Throughout the more than 400 pages, one trait stands out — and helps explain his role in the current conflict in the Middle East: the strategy of starting from maximum demands, always aiming for the highest possible limit and, from there, conducting negotiations. 🌎 In the book, the Republican defends the tactic of “asking for the world” — starting negotiations with maximum demands to shift the center of the discussion and guarantee an advantage even after eventual concessions. In other words, by linking the reopening of one of the main global oil routes to a short deadline and a threat of large-scale destruction, Trump raised the cost of Iranian refusal to the limit. He even said that the Iranians would know “hell” and that he could eliminate the entire country in one night. In the work, Trump was dealing with a project for the Grand Hyatt hotel in New York, when he used the maximalist approach: “I went there and asked for the world — an unprecedented tax exemption — assuming that, even if it were reduced, the reduction would still be enough”, he narrates. He further describes the trading style as a “high-stakes poker game” in which you are forced to “bluff” when you don’t have strong cards. ‘Sometimes you have to be savage’ The idea of total annihilation of Iranian territory, in addition to ‘asking for the world’, also dialogues with another North American tactic: that of ‘being a little savage’. It involves adopting a deliberately aggressive or disproportionate speech to destabilize whoever is on the other side of the table and force a quick response, especially in situations of impasse. In the book, Trump is involved in negotiations for a farm about to be auctioned in the United States. The property belonged to a woman who was facing financial difficulties after her husband’s death, and the bank had already decided to foreclose on the mortgage, without signaling room for negotiation. According to the report, when contacting an executive at the institution, Trump initially tried a conventional approach, offering help and seeking to reopen dialogue. Faced with the refusal — and the statement that “nothing and no one” would prevent the auction — he changed his strategy and adopted a much more aggressive (and savage) tone, threatening to sue the bank and the employee personally, with an extreme accusation linked to the death of the owner’s husband. The reaction was immediate: the bank representative backed down and, shortly afterwards, showed a willingness to negotiate. In the Middle East, however, textbook tactics appear to be encountering a less malleable adversary than a bank executive. Tensions in the Middle East continue Ceasefire suspends attacks for 2 weeks in the Middle East Even with the 10-point agreement, brokered by Pakistan, tension continues. READ MORE: Who are the Pakistani leaders who mediated the ceasefire negotiation? Iran’s original plan to end the war was ‘unacceptable’ and was discarded, says Trump administration Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said this Wednesday (8) that the ceasefire with the US has been broken within Iranian territory. Pezeshkian confirmed that two Iranian islands, Lavan and Siri, were bombed. Furthermore, Israel intensified its offensive in southern Lebanon, with bombings that left more than 250 people dead. Classified by the Israeli Army as “the biggest wave of attacks” in the war against the extremist group Hezbollah, the bombings hit the capital, Beirut, and other regions of the country. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had already stated that Lebanon was not part of the ceasefire agreement signed between Iran and the United States, indicating that military operations in Lebanese territory would continue separately from the negotiations.
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‘Wild negotiation’: how Trump’s 1980s book helps explain extreme and chaotic stance towards Iran
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