The two articles I chose report on Trump withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)— an international trade agreement between 12 nations that border the Pacific Ocean. The article entitled, “Trump Abandons Trans-Pacific Partnership, Obama’s Signature Trade Deal,” from The New York Times, portrays the trade pact in a good light and as a major accomplishment of Obama, while the article, “Trump Withdraws U.S. From Trans-Pacific Partnership,” focuses more on Trump and how he fulfilled a campaign promise by withdrawing the U.S. from the TPP. The NYT article uses words like “traditional, bipartisan trade policy” to imply that the trade agreement was something that the establishment in both parties considered to be beneficial and thus shouldn’t have been scrapped. Furthermore, I noticed that this article describes the arguments of free-trade advocates more than those of critics of free trade and, in particular, the TPP. For example, the article cites more statements from Obama officials than from Trump officials. On the other hand, the Fox News article seems to be biased in favor of Trump’s decision. Unlike the NYT article, this article does not articulate any benefits of having the TPP. Furthermore, the Fox article seems to praise Trump in a subtle way and casts him as a powerful figure who’s resolute in his decisions. For instance, it states, “…Mr. Trump’s decision to bury Mr. Obama’s agreement in his first week shows he is serious about shifting U.S. trade policy…with the potential for big tariffs if those countries don’t come to the table ready to make concessions.” As one can see, the author of this article seems to covertly approve of Trump’s decision.
“Trump Withdraws U.S. From Trans-Pacific Partnership.” Fox Business, Fox Business, 23 Jan. 2017, www.foxbusiness.com/politics/2017/01/23/trump-withdraws-u-s-from-trans-pacific-partnership.html.
Baker, Peter. “Trump Abandons Trans-Pacific Partnership, Obama’s Signature Trade Deal.”The New York Times, The New York Times, 23 Jan. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/01/23/us/politics/tpp-trump-trade-nafta.html?mcubz=0.
