Wonkbook: The debate exchange that Donald Trump won

By Jim Tankersley The first exchange of the first debate of the 2016 general election was Donald Trump's best moment of the night. The topic was jobs, and Trump's Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, had used it to distill her complicated economic plan into a tight two-minute bundle. Trump spent almost his entire answer on a …   The latest economic and domestic policy from Wonkblog   Donald Trump at the first 2016 presidential debate. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post) By Jim Tankersley The first exchange of the first debate of the 2016 general election was Donald Trump's best moment of the night. The topic was jobs, and Trump's Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, had used it to distill her complicated economic plan into a tight two-minute bundle. Trump spent almost his entire answer on a single issue, trade, to hammer home a simple theme: I'm for the working Americans who've been screwed by globalization; she's one of the politicians who let them get screwed. Singling out China from the start, Trump told moderator Lester Holt, "What they're doing to us is a very, very sad thing. … We have to renegotiate our trade deals. And, Lester, they're taking our jobs, they're giving incentives, they're doing things that, frankly, we don't do." A moment later, he added: "But in all fairness to Secretary Clinton, when she started talking about this, it was really very recently. She's been doing this for 30 years. And why hasn't she made the agreements better? ... Secretary Clinton and others, politicians, should have been doing this for years, not right now, because of the fact that we've created a movement." The line of attack wasn't new for Trump. Nor was his populist trade stance, jarring as it was to see a Republican nominee promising tariffs on a debate stage. ADVERTISEMENT   But, in a way he would struggle to do the rest of the night, Trump was able to use the issue to put Clinton on the defensive. He forced her to account for, if not defend outright, the North American Free Trade Agreement that her husband signed as president. And he cast doubt on what was the from-the-gates theme of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign: that she is a fighter for the middle class. Read the rest on Wonkblog.   Chart of the day The number of murders increased sharply last year, while there was little change in less serious categories of offenses -- an unusual divergence. Max Ehrenfreund has more. Top policy tweets "This election is so different from 2012. Zero health care in the first debate." -- @sangerkatz "Clinton goes after Trump: 'He actually bragged about gaming the system to get out of paying his fair share of taxes.'" -- @sahilkapur "$US fell dramatically against the Peso during the debate." -- @JustinWolfers Most Recent Posts from Wonkblog What Donald Trump’s ‘Miss Piggy’ comment shows us about the sin of weight gain Alicia Machado isn't alone in facing professional repercussions for putting on pounds By Danielle Paquette  •  Read more »   Growing tide of protectionism threatens already weak outlook for global trade Global trade is experiencing a dramatic slowdown, just as leading political figures in the United States and elsewhere show an unusual level of hostility toward globalization. By Ana Swanson  •  Read more »   What we mean when we say Hillary Clinton ‘overprepared’ for the debate 'Her opening statement must have had 15 policy proposals.' 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The report found a 10.8 percent increase in murders last year. By Max Ehrenfreund  •  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   Recommended for you   Federal Insider Federal news and policy update, in your inbox daily. Sign Up »         Share Wonkbook:       Twitter      Facebook Trouble reading? Click here to view in your browser. You received this email because you signed up for a Wonkblog newsletter. For additional free newsletters or to manage your newsletters, click here. We respect your privacy. If you believe that this email has been sent to you in error or you no longer wish to receive email from The Washington Post, click here. Contact us for help. ©2016 The Washington Post, 1301 K St NW, Washington DC 20071