This is Trump's negotiating style; he's also holding a gun to the heads of poor American families on health insurance, mafia style, and telling Democratic Congress members to "call me" (or the poor folk get it). But he tends to back down after making blustery threats to mollify his base, which is getting suspicious of his ability or willingness to follow through on his grandiose but impractical promises: his remarkable climb-down on the Iran nuclear agreement is very instructive.

I think the Canadian and Mexican governments should assume the Trump administration is bluffing, again, on NAFTA. Neither of them can afford to go home with a "Win, lose, lose" trade deal.

We should call Trump's bluff and leave the decision on whether to terminate NAFTA in his lap. I think he will duck and weave his way out of this threat as well, since by now even he knows that the consequences for the US would be unacceptable, politically and economically.