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WASHINGTON — First, Donald Trump threatened to rip up NAFTA. Then he didn’t. This week he did again. Now, he’s saying he won’t. But maybe, he says, he’ll change his mind again and rip it up if he can’t get a good deal.

What’s going on?

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“A negotiating ploy,” said Gary Hufbauer of the Peterson Institute, a top U.S. expert on the North American Free Trade Agreement.

“True to Trump’s style. The only surprise was the quick reversal (this week).”

It’s not only Trump’s style.

It’s basic negotiation theory. It involves the concept of negotiating clout stemming from the power to walk away. It belongs to whatever party least fears the WATNA — the acronym for Worst Alternative To A Negotiated Agreement.

And right now, it seems, some people aren’t sweating the WATNA.