WASHINGTON—Donald Trump has threatened to blow up NAFTA less than one week into the renegotiation of the trade agreement, providing an early indication that the upcoming talks might occur under a cloud of menace.The president’s threat itself is no surprise. A common topic of hallway chatter at last week’s first round of talks was when he might deploy that withdrawal threat, which many view as his principal source of negotiating leverage.The only surprise is how quickly it came.“Personally, I don’t think we can make a deal,” Trump told a campaign-style rally in Arizona late Tuesday night. “Because we have been so badly taken advantage of. They have made such great deals — both of the countries, but in particular Mexico — that I don’t think we can make a deal.“So I think we’ll end up probably terminating NAFTA at some point.”He repeated it: “I told you from the first day, we will renegotiate NAFTA or we will terminate NAFTA. I personally don’t think you can make a deal without termination but we’ll see what happens. You’re in good hands, I can tell you.”He’s made the threat numerous times, but this is the first time he’s done it since Canada, the U.S. and Mexico began talks last week.Read more:Trump to rip up NAFTA? Not so fast: OliveTrump’s NAFTA list is long but does not signal massive changes, Canada’s U.S. ambassador saysWhat to expect at the NAFTA talksMexico’s foreign minister shrugged it off as a leverage play: “No surprise: we’re in a negotiation,” Luis Videgaray tweeted in response. “Mexico will remain at the table with calmness, firmness, and in the national interest.”Insiders say they expect him to keep making these threats. It’s his main source of power to force the other countries to reach an agreement. One well-connected Washington lobbyist at last we ...
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