Charlie Sykes: “The deal Trump announced amid the roar, glitz, and ignominy of his UFC spectacle was an American surrender in a war that leaves us with less than we had when it started. This is what defeat looks, feels, and tastes like.”

“Trump, naturally, will treat the non-deal — it is a Memorandum of Understanding to keep talking for another 60 days — as a victory. And from his point of view, it was a relief; Sunday’s surrender was the retreat he so desperately wanted, ending a war that he started, but could not figure out how to finish. And now, in the immortal words of Madmen, you will be amazed at how quickly it never happened— at least for Trump. He can now memory-hole the fiasco and replace it with new worlds to conquer and/or enshittify.”