LARRY KUDLOW: President Trump checkmates Russia and China in the great game

After Davos President Trump once again emerges as the world’s undisputed leader. Dominating the world’s chess board, with America’s economic boom, oil dominance, and national security. Just this week, Mr. Trump’s wins secured a Greenland deal, established a Board of Peace, met with President Volodymyr Zelensky, racked up economic gains, and secured a TikTok deal.

Yet on the world chess board theme, everything Mr. Trump is doing, is reducing the power of Russia and Communist China, while enhancing American security. He is elbowing them out of the Western hemisphere, not only with regime change in Venezuela, but it looks like Cuba will be the next domino to fall.

Of course, these are client states of Russia and China. This is the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, that rules out any foreign interference in the Western hemisphere. And that is going to include Greenland, where Mr. Trump is successfully negotiating complete American military access in various Greenlandic pockets. Sovereignty will be split as part of the deal. Think Britain’s military bases on Cyprus, which are regarded as British territory, but with Cyprus sovereignty.

This includes the Pituffik Space Base. And then think, oil. "Drill, baby, drill." Plus whatever may come out of Venezuela, or even possible down the road from regime change in Iran. Oil prices are going down, not up. That whacks Russia and China. No more cheap oil discounts for China. And by the way, no oil or money for Cuba.

Mr. Trump has mastered oil politics, and the decline in oil prices is permeating the American economy, bolstering the economic boom. You have to love all the lefty press organizations and their Democratic pals talking about affordability, as the economy is growing at 5 percent or possibly more.

Gasoline prices are coming down, and hundreds of oil related prices as well. Wages for working folks rising more than 4 percent, inflation about to drop below 2 percent. That by itself is worth something like $1,500 extra take-home pay for the middle-class. And probably add another $1,500 to that for tax refunds on overtime and tips. We’re in the middle of a massive productivity boom, from AI and all kinds of technology advances. Mr. Trump has hit the nail on the head in his Davos speech, when he argued that economic growth does not cause inflation.

All those Federal Reserve models have to be thrown out the window. Indeed, he argued economic growth would reduce inflation with more production coming from more factories producing more goods. The American economy is humming. It’s the envy of the world. And again, back to that world chess board, the Trump economic boom is completely unmatched by Russia or China.

And Mr. Trump is a far better diplomat than his critics can possibly understand. He is completely outmaneuvering our Russian and Chinese enemies, now in every part of the world. And that’s why he occupies the commanding heights of this great game. 

Checkmate.