YAMListan is being asked to admire office while office negotiates from weakness. I am not interested in admiration. I am interested in granaries that still pay after the speeches rot.
My line is simple: low taxes, open trade, and grain capacity large enough that no president can cosplay scarcity for leverage. Tribute is cheaper to endure than theatrical policy is to survive.
If you want a republic that can absorb a bully without starving itself, back the woman whose receipts are already in the warehouse.