By now, it should be obvious that Trump is not simply stupid and ignorant (two different conditions), although he is both. He is severely mentally ill. He has not simply pursued mistaken policies, he has pursued petty vengeance–when he isn’t pursuing personally profitable grifts.
The clown show Trump calls a “cabinet” has already inflicted major damage on critical aspects of governance: public health, civil liberties, Social Security and more. Now–with the advent of his insane tariffs–he has begun the tanking of an economy that economists agreed was the best in the world at the end of the Biden Administration.
Even before the announcement of the scale of these unbelievably stupid and damaging tariffs, Paul Krugman wrote what any halfway sentient observer already knew: their imposition is a declaration of an all-out trade war that America will lose.
As I said, I don’t know exactly what will be announced later today. One safe prediction, however, is that over the next few days we’ll see many news analyses purporting to explain the thinking behind this radical change in U.S. policy.
Such analyses will be a waste of time, because there’s nothing to explain. I’m not saying that the Trump team’s thinking is unsound. I don’t see any thinking at all.
Krugman focused on two major internal contradictions in Trump’s intended justification.
Here’s the story: Trumpers are claiming that tariffs
1. Won’t increase prices, because foreign producers will absorb the cost
2. Will cause a large shift in U.S. demand away from imports to domestic production
3. Will raise huge amounts of revenue
If you think about it for a minute, you realize that (1) is inconsistent with (2): If prices of imports don’t rise, why would consumers switch to domestically produced goods? At the same time, (2) is inconsistent with (3): If imports drop a lot, tariffs won’t raise a lot of money, because there won’t be much to tax.
So the public story about tariffs doesn’t make any sense. And Trump’s rants about tariffs go beyond nonsense..
Does he really believe that Canada is a major source of fentanyl? Worse, does he believe that fentanyl smugglers pay tariffs?
But is it all a cover for the real, probably sinister agenda of Trump’s tariff push?
No. There isn’t any secret agenda, devised by people who know that the public story is nonsense. How do I know that? Because who, exactly, do you think is devising this secret agenda?
As he goes on to note, today’s Democrats and Republicans get their policy advice from very different sources: Democrats engage people with credentials and expertise. They still may be wrong, but they’re drawn from pools of folks having recognized expertise. Republicans these days prefer “experts” who are pure hacks–people who can be counted on to support whatever the party says.
Krugman was writing before Trump’s unveiling of his insane tariffs. In the wake of that announcement, former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers posted that “The best estimate of the loss from tariff policy is now [close] to $30 trillion or $300,000 per family of four.” Former Vice-President (and Trump toady) Mike Pence was quoted as saying that “The Trump Tariff Tax is the largest peacetime tax hike in U.S. history.” Dow futures lost 1200 points. A coalition of 12 countries officially moved to abandon the dollar in favor of local currencies for cross-border trade.
And that was just on day one.
MAGA cultists may not recognize the likely economic devastation, but a majority of American businesspeople do. So do the “profit over patriotism” lawyers who have bent the knee rather than stand up for the rule of law. And so do the economists and related scholars who work for the universities that have cowered and complied in order to retain federal grants.
In barely three months in office, an ignorant and petty madman has done incalculable damage to the rule of law, to the social safety net, to public health, to America’s alliances abroad– and now to a once-flourishing economy.
Increasing numbers of citizens are coming to understand the gravity of these actions. Call me Pollyanna, but I think the tariffs will provide a wake-up call to the cynical plutocrats who have been willing to go along with the mad king–ignoring the incredible damage being done to average Americans– in hopes of profiting from further tax cuts.
There’s an old political adage to the effect that matters have to “hit bottom” before spineless officials will take action. There’s an excellent case to be made that–thanks to our obviously insane Chief Executive–we’re there.
It isn’t like Trump is just now openly showing these traits of insanity. It has all been there for all to see from the day he came down the golden escalator. So why did half the country apparently not see his insanity? Could it really be that such a large segment of the population saw a reflection of themselves and liked what they saw? Themselves as “winners”…. potential “winners”? Someone with their own principles, standards, morals? Someone who’s behavior they could excuse because they had never taken responsibility for their own? A rich, successful version of themselves? If only?
How can we “Buy American” when so little is produced here and hasn’t been produced here for decades. The last TV I bought 4-5 years ago proudly printed on the box, “ASSEMBLED IN AMERICA”; whoopy-fucking-doo. I recently shopped at a new Hispanic market in my area; only bought 2 items, the bag of baby carrots were “a product of Bakersfield, CA”. the plantain chips were “a product of (a city) in New Jersey”. No idea how long I have been buying produce of poor quality from Kroger which are products of South American countries and most clothing and other items state on tags “made in China”. Trump’s hats are made in China and South American Elon Musk imports vehicle parts from other countries to be assembled in other countries than his home name or America.
We would be buying American made products if only products were still being made here.
I renewed my drivers license yesterday; the picture which will appear on it clearly shows who I am now, a bitter, angry, depressed, ugly old woman. I have actually been trying for months to unfreeze the grim expression on my face by falsely grinning while sitting alone in front of my TV, trying my best to keep MSNBC and CNN viewership numbers up. Can Trump’s obvious insanity be spread through the highly technical electronic gizmos that control our lives today?
i’ll be in downtown Indy at the state house today with a full rain suit and an umbrella. This will be the first time in my life I’ve gone to a political protest. This is the grimmest I’ve ever seen it.
JoAnn said a mouthful when she stated the obvious: “We produce so little in the US.”
Neoliberalism has been Washington’s policy since the 1970s but kicked in big time with Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. Bush/Clinton pushed through NAFTA, which opened the doors for many companies to move manufacturing overseas and across borders. We could manufacture products in China or Vietnam and ship them back to the States, which would still be cheaper than producing them in the USA because of labor prices and regulations.
The Midwest has one growing season. The Global South has two to three growing seasons, so we are dependent on their ability to produce food. That’s why JoAnn’s produce in Kroger is from the Global South for two-thirds of the year.
Most importantly, this was an agreed-upon international strategy. Europe also deindustrialized and relied upon imports. One of the best illustrations of neoliberalism is WalMart. Most of us are old enough to remember Sam Walton’s pitch about “Made in the USA.” In the 80s and 90s, Walmart forced every manufacturer they dealt with to close their plants and move to China because they told their clients how much they would buy their product.
Does anybody remember what Rupert Murdoch and conservative media told Americans? Even lame media on the so-called left gaslit Americans to believe they had to move overseas because “Unions demanded higher labor costs to corporations, so they had to close and move to China.”
The reason was corporate greed. Period.
However, Americans bought the nonsense, and what happened to unions? Reagan started with air traffic controllers, and it went downhill from there.
Trump destroyed that global arrangement on “Liberation Day,” and Wall Street didn’t approve of it for obvious reasons. Expect backlash.
Will companies move manufacturing back from China to the US as Trump hopes?
I don’t think so, but a new global arrangement is coming, and inflation is almost guaranteed.
The contributors to this blog have, in one way or another, defined the insanity of Trump and the horror brought on by such intellectual dwarfs as Stephen Miller, Peter Navarro and Pam Bondi, et. al. The question then becomes, where did he find these idiots? Well, they found him. His pathology is so profound that he is compelled to surround himself with those who are lesser beings than even himself.
People who never had any character to begin with (Marco Rubio) will easily fall to their knees for the sake of their blind ambition. The publisher of the Bulwark said yesterday that the 32% of our population are clearly what Theresa described, and will happily go down with the ship because they too lack character, integrity and intelligence. But what about the almost 40% of registered voters who didn’t vote in 2024? What about those other millions who don’t even register to vote? How do they view their own lives? White grievance? Abject poverty’s impact on ANY ambition or idea about being part of our society?
Many of us have asked, “Why do people vote against their own best interests?” Obviously, there are many answers to that question, some of which the essays and the responders have mentioned. But what of the tipping point? The sycophants will just shrug and say, “So what? We’re in power and you can’t do anything about that.” They also assume that they’re going to win every election because of so much voter apathy. How does the tipping point change that? How do we the people get rid of the festering carbuncle that is our executive branch of government and the drooling fools in the Republican party (MTG immediately comes to mind) who keep enabling the carbuncle?
What if the monster declares Marshall Law and suspends elections next year? Will he use his knuckle-dragging militias to prop up the regime? I hate to say it, but my book “Killing the Dream: America’s Flirtation With Third-World Status” seems more like a prophecy than just a multi-page rant.
On the one side, we have a self-confessed Pollyanna and on the other, we have extreme pessimism. While I believe that the truth is somewhere in between, I tend more towards optimism and the view that we are at some sort of a turning point this week. The outcomes in Wisconsin (and even the misses in Florida), the spirited speech by Cory Booker, Signal-gate, and the complete collapse of wealth in response to the insane tariffs provide a one-two-three-four punch to the status-quo.
I was surprised (and heartened) to read that even signal-gate has hit the radar of a plurality of Americans.
While I may be wrong, I plan like Dan, to attend the rally in downtown Indianapolis today. I too have never protested before – and I grew up in the Vietnam era. This is a turning point. I believe that “we the people” do have agency and we can make a difference. We must not lose energy and we must be patient. But, I believe the politics will be affected.
Now, for my pessimism: I hope it is not too late.
Thank you, as always, for your blog.
My small business is importing 19th century Scottish and British oil paintings, researching and restoring as needed. With art currently in transit I will be hit with tariffs. This is the first time ART has incurred additional tax. This affects international art fairs, overseas buyers (about ten percent of our buyers are overseas) and exhibitions, as a blanket import fee will hit all imported art, regardless of the purpose. This is because Trump has not taken time to delineate purpose such as bringing an exhibit of Egyptian artifacts or Dutch masters that are on loan. There is nothing reciprocal here. Tariffs did not exist on the free flow of art before. Of course this Administration does not care about art and culture, unless it is about American culture in their own definition, that is basically fascist.
I see Trump’s obsession with tariffs in two ways:
1. His ideas about the world were formed in the 1970s and 1980s. As he said, he has believed in reciprocal tariffs for forty years. His unthought notions are driving his policies. I cannot even credit it with being ideological. He remembers ‘Fortress Europe’ fears when the EU was formed. So thinks the EU is against the US. He also remembers the unique moment when Reagan and Gorbachev made history and the Berlin Wall came down. Trump craves that acclaim and sees Russian friendship (and money) as a way to make a mark. The famed book ‘Exodus’ framed Israel in a time warp of positivity.
Secondly, tariffs is a new revenue source, even if it is only short term. He needs that to pay off the billionaires that bank-rolled his election and paid into his unrestricted and unidentified donor Inaugural fund. The tax cuts for the very wealthy come next, funded with tariffs the rest of us have to suffer.
Another note on tariffs:
Trump imposed a 10% tariff on war-torn Ukraine. On UKRAINE!!!!
Trump imposed NO tariffs on Russia. Or Belarus. Or his friend Oban in Hungary. He exempted Turkey from the EU too with half the tariff. All his authoritarian friends.
This week Putin’s money man, the investment envoy arrived in Washington to meet Trump officials for a WEEK.
He is here only because Trump lifted the ban on travel for this Kremlin oligarch.
Meanwhile his sycophant Cabinet cannot reign in Trump’s worst instincts, and fall in line to support this nightmare.
So my question is: will anyone in power, our military leadership that remains intact, the Senate, actually declare the treason, grift and insanity under our noses and remove Trump from office?
What will it take?
Meanwhile we deport an American citizen to a El Salvador concentration camp, (could not call those conditions a prison) and tell a judge we cannot bring him back? The road ahead is clear.!
Vern; too many people, even sane people smarter than Trump, and Musk hasn’t exactly displayed intelligence, always need someone to look down on. The current administration had their choice of dozens of MAGA supporters to choose from and they chose the lowest levels from the crowd. Their tokens this year were those billionaires who hoped to increase their overflowing coffers with those tariffs Trump promised; how’s that working out for them today? Are they supporting Trump’s anti-DEI agenda to weed out the low income classes, which is now rapidly expanding as their jobs are lost along with their income, and for some their lives due to losing medical care due to escalating costs.
“Will Obvious Insanity Be The Turning Point?” As we watch America being dismantled, can’t you feel it tilting on its axis? Or, are we members of the DEI, which now includes old white men, the only ones who notice the turning?
off subject.
stocks lose in recent drop. 4000 points.
combined s/p nas/dow 7 trillion$ lose.
where the f— is those living wages?
the net gain of points since Obamas end, dow stocks ended at 18000′
a point jump to today, 38000. after lose.
seems that trickle down reagan talk is really a vast rip off of those
who generated that profit,the working class.
instead the billionaires who kicked our jobs overseas to cheap labor,
demand they dont compensate for our lose on growth. instead
they commit a disaster again to benefit their own ilk. while
driving the American public into a credit dependant enity for profit.
pension plans and retirment money again just disappeared.
imagine that?
time to pay up,the money is out there. time for the republicans in DC
to take the hit.not us.
Thank you for your Blog!
For the first time ART is included in this blanket tariff. Not reciprocal at all. My art gallery business is based on importing 19th century fine art mostly Scottish and British/European. The art in transit will be hit with tariffs for the first time. This impacts international art fairs and traveling exhibits. Imagine an exhibit of art worth hundred of thousands of dollars being hit with import tariffs?
I see two reasons for the tariffs:
One is the fact that Trump is mired in his view of the world from 1980s. He even said he has supported tariffs for 40 years! His notions about the world cannot even be credited with being ideological. That is for his Project 2025 team. Trump remembers ‘Fortress Europe’ when the European Union was formed amid fears of leveraged trade and tariffs keeping the US out of the European market. He remembers how Reagan forged a path forward with Gorbachev to bring down the Berlin Wall. And he remembers the romantic version of Israel in ‘Exodus’ with music by Mancini. We ‘lost’ the Panama Canal. He dodged Vietnam altogether, so that was never a reality for him.
So now we see outdated notions of the world, unthought and reactionary, becoming the personal policy of an unchecked President sending edicts by executive orders.
Secondly, tariffs provide short term cash needed to offset the huge tax cuts to pay off Trump’s billionaire donors. He also managed his tariffs to reward his new friends (everything is personal not in the national interest).
War torn Ukraine was slapped with a 10% tariff!
Countries with no tariffs include RUSSIA, Belarus and Hungary specifically exempted from the EU 20% tariff.
Switzerland received 31% and tiny Lichtenstein received even higher tariffs, in comparison.
Now the Kremlin money man, the Russian investment envoy arrived for a week to meet with the Trump administration. Real estate broker and attorney Steve Witkoff, whose grandparents were born in Russia, is the primary contact. And Gen. Flynn is back in the Trump fold.
Job well done on tariffs, weakening our allies and ourselves, sparing Putin and his allies.
The presence of this Kremlin oligarch means Trump lifted his travel ban, imposed after the invasion of Ukraine by the way.
So now, with treason, grift, insanity and incompetence; what power, military or Senate, will step forward to remove Trump from office? Has Trump fired enough senior military leadership to survive this test? Will the Democratic Party rise up and challenge Trump’s capacity to lead? Will any Republicans join in or are they too fearful of Trump’s wrath?
What more will it take, or are we already beyond hope?
Vern:
thanks. i agree. those knucle draggers,yea, your right,just look at the orgs
republican sheriff assoc.raga, etc the posse comitatus will become
void. the military will become the norm.otherwise, get a commitmit
now from DC that it wont happen..
Yes, Vern, they were attracted to him a long time ago, just as Hitler’s tools were tp him.
“Birds of a feather flock together?” You bet!
But birds have more brain power than he and his covey of sycophants.
It’s a clown show, and I keep what sanity I have left watching and expecting still dumber garbage. Speaking of garbage, every time he opens his mouth….
Laurel,
Great post!
The analysis behind implementing tariffs against China, but not Russia, is geopolitical. The US hopes to drive a wedge between China and Russia. The US wants Russia to choose between us and China.
This is why when Chinese and Russian diplomats get together, they tell the press that their bond is “unbreakable” and “deeper than it’s ever been.”
Xi and Putin say the same thing. I don’t think Trump or his looney administration has access to a world map. Moscow might be European, but the rest of Russia is Asian. One look at all the undeveloped land in Russia would dismiss all the “European leaders” ideas that Russia wants to invade Europe.
Why would Putin want that headache? He doesn’t even want Western Ukraine.
The US MIC pretty much runs Europe through NATO and the EU, so the war promoters are all MIC puppets. Mark Rutte and Kaja Kallas are numbskulls. Ursula Von der Leyen needs to be removed from any leadership position. Their new war state will crush Europe long term.
Can’t anyone see the real Donald Trump? He does not care about anyone but himself and that includes his wife and children. He planned all of his moves if he was able to regain the White House and they were “to destroy as much about and for America” as he possible could. He will survive with his money and golf courses…how about you?
Orange Jesus loves tariffs, because he looks back the good old days when Robber Barons ruled. He has opined frequently about McKinley being so smart to install tariffs. I’m pretty sure he has no idea how that administration ended. Maybe the ghost of Teddy Roosevelt can visit him in the night and tell him how he became the youngest President in history.
How long did it take to get from New York to Paris in 1900? A week or more. How long does it take today? About six hours. It IS a small world today. The whole world is our neighbor today. We have a President who can’t understand why there’s any difference. So many things that used to be unavailable are in abundance today.
Now we will have to decide whether we can afford our guilty pleasures when the cost is at least ten percent higher. Think about your favorite food, clothes, or shoes, or even a tie made in China for your favorite President. Is it worth the price? The tie will cost thirty four percent more.
Here’s my theory du jour to explain how we got from the country that we prospered under to becoming the formerly united States of mid-North America under the ruling triumvirate of MTV.
Some of us tend towards the collaborative end of a spectrum, while others are closer to the other end, which is competitive.
Our former country was naturally sorted into those who were naturally competitive, who tended towards business, and those who collaborate, who tended towards government or the other caretaking professions.
That arrangement worked for everyone. This one doesn’t work except for MTV and the Mar-a-Lago crowd. This arrangement is eating the GOP, and the question is, can we afford to wait for elections, or is more urgent action the only way?
Pete, I’m with you on more urgent action. When a psychopath sees that he/she is losing their grip, they behave desperately. In this case, think nuclear war.
It’s not ignorance or stupidity or insanity. Trump’s tariffs are nothing more than a means to make corporate America kiss his ring to remove tariffs on their needs. It’s an autocratic move. Trump doesn’t care about American workers to do this.
Trumputin actually said the quiet part out loud: The tariff-induced stock market collapse (it lost trillions—trillions!!—yesterday) will enable people to become incredibly wealthy. That translates into: stock values plummet, the oligarchs dive in like the carrion feeders they are, grab up the stocks while they’re dirt cheap, after which the tariffs likely will magically disappear like a June frost. Et voila! The already-wealthy will become obscenely wealthier, whilst the rest of us…
To address the direness of the situation, the senile kumquat trotted his ass down to his Florida palace for a candlelight dinner last night, a fundraiser for MAGA Inc., his super PAC. In order to dodge the illegality of this being a money grab for himself, he’s just the featured speaker.
Meanwhile, Antarctic penguins and seals are bracing themselves for the economic hit they’re gonna take from the tariffs imposed upon them.
One thing more: the MAGA dinner was at the tune of $1 million per head. Those better have been some really good “hamberders.”
What The Other Sheila Said exactly. The grift is alive and well – would it be surprising if those in the know dumped their stock before the tariffs? Trump told the truth out loud – this is a great time to get rich. Meanwhile Rome burns…
Although I am physically incapable of attending today’s event at the State House, I want to thank all who are going. You have my profound gratitude. I promise to help in other ways.
William McKinley was the 25th President of the United States, serving from March 4, 1897, until his assassination on September 14, 1901, after leading the nation to victory in the Spanish-American War and raising protective tariffs to promote American industry.
McKinley was murdered by an anarchist who blamed McKinley’s policies on protective tariffs for his misfortunes.
The difference between now and then is access to instant communications by all. Trump is conjuring negative responses and radical trade policy changes from around the world in a matter of less than 24 hours. During McKinley’s time, that same turn of events might have taken 24 weeks or more.
The cost to the American taxpayer to protect the President most probably quadrupled with no indication the Secret Service has received any attention at all from DOGE.
Sharon @ 11:50. You’ll be happy to know that, despite miserable weather, some 2000 Hoosiers rallied on the Statehouse lawn against Trump and Musk.
I’m happy to hear there are more there than when I went before. Hopefully/ or unfortunately… there will be more protesting with more people. There’s a good crowd in NYC today.
Bravo to all who attended the rally at the statehouse today. I found it uplifting and just wish I could have captured images of all the clever signs.
When ignorance and stupidity combine with arrogance, dementia, obstinance, and narcissism, you have a condition called Trump. It is particularly contagious for authoritarians and is a danger to the world’s health, safety, prosperity, and survival.
TRUMP IS RIGHT —– partly
If left to continue his path, he believes there will be three empires: Russia controlling Europe, China controlling East Asia, and the US, headed by himself, controlling the Americas.
Actually, a weakened Russia will get Belarus and Ukraine, but I suspect that the rest of Europe will keep what’s left of NATO alive, China will control East Asia as well as spreading its influence over third world countries and becoming the world’s leader in science and technology.
The US will turn into a banana republic ruled by Trump and his billionaire friends for their own financial interests, and otherwise doing whatever Putin tells them to do.
I hope that Sheila is right and people will finally feel the pain and respond, but I worry that too many people have the ability (and desire) to rationalize (and not admit that they voted for the wrong person) and have incredible tolerance for financial pain.
Sorry to be a downer. The number of people protesting gives me encouragement. I only hope that enough people can instill FEAR in their Republican elected leaders. Sadly, they will need to fear the voters more than they fear Trump to do anything.
Question – If we survive this, can we have a Nuremberg set of trials against Bondi, Musk, et al for attempting to overthrow the Constitution, with no “I was just following Trump’s orders” excuses? Maybe sue Musk, the Doge boys, Miller and others for billions for lost privacy and lost freedom? Maybe do a prisoner swap with El Salvador – Musk, the Doge boys, Bondi and all for those Trump illegally deported?
One can dream, can’t one?
I was in a public space on Thursday and commented about the huge drop in the DOW. Another woman said “Good!” I was surprised that anyone would think that was good. She continued, “Maybe THIS will wake people up.”