Trump backtracks on key campaign promises; hints at re-joining TPP

President Trump said on Thursday that the US is willing to re-enter in the Trans-Pacific Partnership if it gets a better deal than the previous one.

The decision comes as a rebuttal of Mr. Trumps’ own campaign promises hinting at the unfairness of the deal and the subsequent withdrawal from it. Trump was extremely vociferous about the demerits of TPP deal, claiming it to be against the US interests.

"Would only join TPP if the deal were substantially better than the deal offered to Pres. Obama," he wrote in a late night tweet. "We already have BILATERAL deals with six of the eleven nations in TPP, and are working to make a deal with the biggest of those nations, Japan, who has hit us hard on trade for years!"

Trump has frequently disparaged multilateral trade deals, calling the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement a "disaster."

The decision was welcomed by lawmakers from agricultural states.

But his most hawkish trade advisers, who now dominate his cabinet after high-level departures, have expressed a strong preference for negotiating bilateral agreements, which they say play to US advantages.