“nor have I insulted or disparaged you”
**********
Really? When you say some of the things below a reasonable person would consider them dismissive, if not disparaging. Your words, not mine:
“This is a joke”
“You persist in unilevel thinking”
“Obviously Art of War is lost on you”
“What you say is what you want heard”
I don’t view those as insults. I try to be constructive as shown by my taking the time to explain why the statement was ludicrous. Were I given those comments I would have researched The Art of War. I would not have been insulted.
We judge others by ourselves.
“What you say is what you want heard” refers to Trump or anyone who is in the midst of a strategic negotiation. Statements are often made to obfuscate, misdirect, cause a perception. Trump excels at that skill, as does any successful diplomat. His interaction with Mamdani was an opportunity to size Mamdani up, see how he responds, what his weaknesses are and areas where pressure will be fruitful. It was also an opportunity to set Mamdani up for future interactions by manipulating his perceptions of Trump. Surely Mamdani is playing the same game but with much less experience and ability.