Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick went on CNBC this fall to promote a deal so great that he deemed it “off the rails.” The government of Japan, he explained, had brought down its tariff rate by giving President Donald Trump $550 billion to spend on whatever he wants. “They are going to give America money when we ask for it to build the projects,” he said with a grin.

The president himself had been describing the agreement similarly—and was dismayed to later learn that the billionaire businessman turned bureaucrat, his longtime friend, had misunderstood the terms.

Japanese leaders—who typically favor quiet diplomacy—made clear that they had not given Trump the blank check that Lutnick described. They would have a say in how the money was invested, and maintained the right to reject propos

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