First Kim, Then Xi, Now Putin?

Wealth Daily editor Alex Koyfman looks at President Trump's bluster against other foreign powers and questions whether it's strategy or hot air. You are receiving this email because you subscribed to Wealth Daily. [Click here]( to manage your e-mail preferences. [Wealth Daily logo] First Kim, Then Xi, Now Putin? [Alex Koyfman Photo] By [Alex Koyfman]( Written Apr. 12, 2018 A few short months ago, the media was busy spinning us into a panic over potential nuclear war with North Korea. Today, you don't hear much more about it from the mainstream media outlets — though it looks likely that a meeting between Trump and Kim will take place at some point later this year. Since then, there have been no missile tests and no large-scale military exercises on or around the Korean peninsula. Just a few weeks ago, after a shocking proposal to levy $50 billion in tariffs on Chinese imports became the center of attention, those same media outlets started selling us the notion that a trade war was in the works. The very next day, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying responded with these harsh words: China will not sit idly by while its interests are jeopardised. We have made sufficient preparations and will firmly defend our legitimate interests. And when the list of affected Chinese goods was published two weeks later, the Chinese fired another bowshot, announcing their own set of tariffs on American products — also $50 billion worth. Fear turned to panic, as it appeared that the prediction of a full-blown trade war was coming true... until three days ago, when the Chinese government did the unthinkable. On April 9, Chinese President Xi issued a statement saying that tariffs on imported cars — which had stood at 25% and represented a substantial problem for American carmakers — would be “substantially cut” before the end of the year. Once again, the apparent capitulation of a foreign power to Trump's bizarre, unprecedented, utterly unpredictable style of foreign relations was buried by the mainstream media. The story's conclusion didn't so much make the news as cause the entire thread to die off, as if it had never been a thing to begin with. Ending Gun Violence While Keeping the Second Amendment Intact Imagine a technology that could stop mass shootings without a shot being fired... What was once science fiction is now real: An artificial intelligence-powered screening device that can scan entire crowds in seconds. It can tell the difference between something like a pocket of coins and something dangerous, like a gun, bomb, or knife, without alerting the subject being scanned. It almost never makes mistakes. And with every scan, it grows smarter and smarter and smarter... This technology will change the face of security across the globe. And the company behind it will soon be a household brand. [Find out how the company did it — right here.]( Battle of the Egos: Round 3 Thankfully, for the media at least, there was no lull in stories to cover on the foreign affairs front. Just yesterday, after Russia stated that it would shoot down any cruise missiles fired by U.S. forces at elements of the Assad regime in response to a recent chemical attack against Syrian citizens, Trump took to his usual digital soapbox and fired off this priceless chunk of prose. Looking at the word choices, the punctuation, and the sentence structure, it's hard to imagine that the above message came from the mind of our chief executive, and yet, that's exactly what it is. Moreover, it's a message from our chief executive to a nation possessing either the world’s biggest or second-biggest nuclear arsenal, depending on which source you cite. This isn't some backwater dictator; this is Russia: the heart of the former Soviet Union and a rival nation for closing in on three-quarters of a century. We went against them in the space race, in the arms race, in the race for ideological supremacy, and each time we won, leaving their once-proud and expansive empire a broken, bankrupted, rusting giant. They have a long and well-established sense of contempt for the U.S. and American “arrogance” that's so ingrained in popular thinking that it's part of the culture. Every time the U.S. suffers a political setback, as it did when it failed to respond to a 2013 chemical attack in Syria — an act President Obama concretely stated would constitute a “red line” for active American involvement — the Russians treat it as a personal victory. Selling a strong-posture approach to the populace would not be too difficult for Putin. He Has Uncle Sam By the Balls The U.S. government is obligated to pay him $21 million every month for the next 10 years... But for him to maintain this special deal, he MUST pay out a sizable chunk of that money to folks like you and me... To the tune of an extra $20,620 a year! [Click here]( to discover how to start collecting these windfalls. Mutually Assured Destruction Only Works When It's Assured So the question we face now is: Will Trump's erratic behavior once again cause the other side to blink? Regardless of whether you think Trump is a genius, a madman, or just plain stupid, it's important to note that this sort of foreign policy isn't new. It goes all the way back to Niccolò Machiavelli, who wrote in his 1517 book on politics and philosophy, Discourses on Livy, that on occasion, it is “a very wise thing to simulate madness.” Nixon famously employed what he coined the “madman theory” in dealing with the North Vietnamese. In that instance, his approach was to cause the communists to believe that he had been “pushed too far” and would go to any length, even full-scale nuclear war, to end the conflict with a victory. Nixon's approach may have seemed feasible at the time, but history proved it ineffective, as the U.S. withdrew from Vietnam under the force of building social pressure from within, and did so with nothing approaching a clear political victory. So Why Would An American President Go Down the Same Road? First of all, I want to make it clear that I do NOT believe Trump is acting the way he is after reading the works of Renaissance thinkers or going over the notes of his predecessors in the Oval Office. I believe he evolved his management style in the business world and that his method of speaking loudly and having a big stick to back it up has been the driving force behind both his corporate and political career. It scared business leaders, but today, as the discourse takes place in a public forum, world leaders being targeted by Trump and his keyboard are simply left guessing. They understand that they're dealing with an ego-gone-wild, perhaps a truly disturbed one, whose life of privilege, luxury, and unequivocal autonomy over his immediate surroundings has created a self-perception bordering on godlike... a man who just might consider himself the most important being in the world. In short, they're dealing with a personality exactly like their own. Is he stupid/crazy enough to really nuke North Korea? Who knows. It's possible. It wouldn't cost the U.S. anything besides lost political capital with its allies — albeit a great deal of it. Militarily, it would be virtually unilateral. Kim had to play the sane role and back down, let the headlines settle, and start to discuss talks. Is he stupid/crazy enough to really start a trade war with China? Who knows. It's possible. Even at the cost of tens of billions and at the risk of destabilizing the dollar, he just might. Xi decided to play the sane role and back down. Is he stupid/crazy enough to really start a nuclear war with Russia? Who knows. It's possible. The scary prospect for Putin is that Trump might truly believe he can win a nuclear war with Russia. For a guy like Putin, who just got done winning an election that guarantees him six more years of power, the cost of gambling could easily be too high. There is too much to lose, and if, after his final term is over, Putin wants to live a single day without being jailed or killed, he can't be the one to preside over a hot war with the U.S. — even a conventional one. Bitcoin has more than quadrupled in value since January, making some people’s stakes worth more than 675,000 times their original investment! Lesser-known cryptocurrencies like Litecoin, Ethereum, Dash, and Ripple have all shown investors as much as 4,000% returns! And now we have a new one on our radar that could be bigger than all of them. Investment Director of Penny Stock Millionaire, Alex Koyfman, has discovered the next cryptocurrency that could deliver Bitcoin-like gains. You won’t believe what he’s found until you see it! [Click here for the exclusive report!]( Don't Forget the Good Cop: Leave Your Opponent an Option One of the things I noticed about Trump's patterns of interacting with his most powerful political rivals via Twitter is that, sooner or later, he always gives his opponent a way out. His very next tweet pivoted, emotionally, to the completely opposite end of the spectrum. This playing-out, reeling-in approach was exactly what ended up silencing Kim Jong Un, with tirades of insults and unabashed provocations being punctuated by offers of peace and an apparent willingness to talk things out. Can it possibly work on Putin, who, unlike the leaders of North Korea and China, has the capacity to do equal damage to the U.S. and its assets? As long as Putin believes Trump thinks he can win, the possibility remains strong that it will work. Trump does get one thing right: Russia is in a tough spot at the moment, and it's not going to get any better. Continued hostilities for them, even if only on an economic basis, could cause another revolution — a scenario that cannot end favorably for Putin. All-out war will cause definite destruction. Putin's only choice might be to play the sane role. We'll see what happens only if Trump makes good on a promise his immediate predecessor failed to keep, and fires cruise missiles at Assad's assets. Until that happens, our president's bluster will remain just that. Fortune favors the bold, [alex koyfman Signature] Alex Koyfman [[follow basic]@AlexKoyfman on Twitter]( Coming to us from an already impressive career as an independent trader and private investor, Alex's specialty is in the often misunderstood but highly profitable development-stage microcap sector. Focusing on young, aggressive, innovative biotech and technology firms from the U.S. and Canada, Alex has built a track record most Wall Street hedge funders would envy. Alex contributes his thoughts and insights regularly to [Wealth Daily](. To learn more about Alex, [click here](. Enjoy reading this article? [Click here]( to like it and receive similar articles to read! Browse Our Archives [What I Don't Know About Stocks]( [Is the Cryptocurrency Market Gaining Momentum?]( [A Parent's View on Trade]( [Google, The Destroyer!]( [Wealth Daily's Top Four "Crash-Proof" Investments]( --------------------------------------------------------------- This email was sent to {EMAIL}. It is not our intention to send email to anyone who doesn't want it. If you're not sure why you've received this e-letter, or no longer wish to receive it, you may [unsubscribe here](, and view our privacy policy and information on how to manage your subscription. To ensure that you receive future issues of Wealth Daily, please add newsletter@wealthdaily.com to your address book or whitelist within your spam settings. For customer service questions or issues, please contact us for assistance. [Wealth Daily](, Copyright © 2018, [Angel Publishing LLC](. All rights reserved. 111 Market Place #720 Baltimore, MD 21202. The content of this site may not be redistributed without the express written consent of Angel Publishing. Individual editorials, articles and essays appearing on this site may be republished, but only with full attribution of both the author and Wealth Daily as well as a link to www.wealthdaily.com. Your privacy is important to us -- we will never rent or sell your e-mail or personal information. [View our privacy policy here.]( No statement or expression of opinion, or any other matter herein, directly or indirectly, is an offer or the solicitation of an offer to buy or sell the securities or financial instruments mentioned. While we believe the sources of information to be reliable, we in no way represent or guarantee the accuracy of the statements made herein. [Wealth Daily]( does not provide individual investment counseling, act as an investment advisor, or individually advocate the purchase or sale of any security or investment. Neither the publisher nor the editors are registered investment advisors. Subscribers should not view this publication as offering personalized legal or investment counseling. Investments recommended in this publication should be made only after consulting with your investment advisor and only after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company in question.