Trade wars and diplomatic disputes are difficult to end even when the parties involved in them are genuinely interested in making a deal, but Trump doesn't make deals.
The Wall Street Journal reported last night that the Trump regime has rejected a Turkish proposal to release American Christian pastor Andrew Brunson if the U.S. government drops its investigation of a Turkish bank accused of violating Iran sanctions.
That doesn't seem like a equitable exchange to me but, in any case, the Trump regime says there will be no talks and no deals.
WASHINGTON—The Trump administration has rejected an effort by Turkey to tie the release of a U.S. pastor with relief for a major Turkish bank facing billions of dollars in U.S. fines, telling Ankara other issues are off the table until the minister is freed, a senior White House official said. [...]
The White House official said the U.S. made clear to Turkey that areas of dispute between the two nations, including the fines Halkbank faces, won’t be discussed until Mr. Brunson has been released.
Trump apparently believes he can force Erdogan into giving him everything he wants in exchange for nothing and that may sound familiar because it's Trump's approach to virtually every dispute of his own creation.
By dramatically escalating this diplomatic dispute with Turkey into a very public trade war, Trump has left himself and Erdogan little room to back down even if either of the dictators wanted to.
From Iran to Turkey and China, just because another country has less power or money than the United States does not mean they have less dignity or national pride. And unlike the United States, if their leaders kiss Trump's ring the way Trump kisses Putin's ring, they won't remain in office for much longer.
One of the most important parts of any diplomatic effort is to give the other party room to negotiate, but Trump sucks all of the light and oxygen out of diplomacy like a black hole.
In possibly-related news, someone shot at the U.S. embassy in Turkey in a drive-by shooting