Tom Friedman Thinks We’re Getting China Dangerously Wrong

This is an edited transcript of an episode of “The Ezra Klein Show.” You can listen to the conversation by following or subscribing to the show on the NYT Audio App, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.

This episode contains strong language.

Here’s a simple principle that I believe deeply: You cannot make a good argument for a bad policy. You cannot make a coherent argument for an incoherent policy.

You can imagine tariff regimes that are defensible. You can imagine critiques of the previous era of global trade that are coherent. The problem is none of them fit what President Donald Trump is actually doing.