On April 9, journalists at the White House tried to decipher the 90-day pause on tariffs decided by Donald Trump. The young presidential spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, grew frustrated hearing talk of backtracking. "Many of you in the media clearly missed The Art of the Deal..."

Referring to the book as the bible of a president who thinks only in terms of transactions has become a mark of allegiance. Bill Ackman, a billionaire and staunch supporter, praised the tariff backtrack as "textbook, Art of the Deal." Each of the president's strategies, including his reversals, is said to be theorized in this work published in 1987. "It's as if The Art of the Deal has become the modern equivalent of Sun Tzu's The Art of War or Machiavelli's The Prince," joked French journalist Philippe Corbé, an expert of the US, in his newsletter Zeitgeist.

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