Donald Trump prides himself in being the consummate dealmaker but has yet to negotiate on anything significant in his second term as president, least of all a complex peace deal on Ukraine. He backpedalled on “terminating” U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell a week after seemingly threatening to do so, and erratically modified his blunderbuss approach to tariffs. Administration officials have described these walkbacks as negotiating tactics, but critics say they’re evidence that Trump was never as deft or resolute as he had claimed, suggesting further that his drop in the polls may have been the cause.