Trump's Economic Trainwreck

Foreign leaders get it, even as Trump remains clueless

After two days of watching the markets tank, President in Name Only Donald Trump’s lackeys began to talk about a “compromise” on his wrongheaded, disastrous rollout of steep across-the-board tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada, and China. This is a common Trump stunt: Make a boneheaded move, watch the fierce blowback, make a meaningless deal, and declare victory.

In this case, the “compromise” appears to include a one-month reprieve from tariffs for automakers. However, after the one-month pause, those tariffs apparently will go into effect. No such relief was offered for other goods.

Whatever wiggle room Trump provides, the damage is done. Markets, businesses, and consumers are rattled. (Even Trump acknowledged during his congressional rant that tariffs would require a “little adjustment.” I trust that may be code for “inflation plus job losses.”) In sum, Trump’s economic imbecility and on-again-off-again tariff scheme risks job losses and higher inflation. And he may have irreparably harmed relations with our closest neighbors.

It is not hard to see why Trump should look for an out. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated that “there is absolutely no justification or need whatsoever for these tariffs.” The excuse that Canada has not stopped the flow of illegal fentanyl is “totally false.” He stressed that this was all Trump’s doing. He even taunted him. “Now, it’s not in my habit to agree with the Wall Street Journal,” he said. “But Donald, they point out that even though you’re a very smart guy, this is a very dumb thing to do.” (One can seriously question the former; the latter is objectively true.)

In fact, the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board citing the tariffs the “dumbest in history” may have been an understatement. The board went on: “Mr. Trump is whacking friends, not adversaries. His taxes will hit every cross-border transaction, and the North American vehicle market is so interconnected that some cars cross a border as many as eight times as they’re assembled.”

In addition to Trudeau, Ontario Premier Doug Ford (in multiple TV appearances) went right over his head to the American people, American businesses, and Americans who possess any degree of economic literacy.

“Canadians love Americans. We love the U.S. It’s one person that’s causing these problems… It’s not you, it’s your president that’s causing this problem,” he explained on Tuesday. In direct, respectful language he explained how dumb the tariffs truly are—for both countries. “The market is going to go downhill faster than the American bobsled team. And we’re going to continue seeing in the U.S. plants closing, assembly lines shut down,” he said. All of this is “unnecessary,” he said. All Canada can do is “retaliate.” (Almost comically, he then apologized to the American people.)

Ford also made clear how utterly isolated Trump is on the issue. “I’ve talked to Senators and Congresspeople and governors, Republicans and Democrats, not one of them agree with him,” he said. He added, “President Trump ran on a mandate to lower costs, to create more jobs. This is going to do exactly the opposite.”

Meanwhile, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum at her Tuesday press conference blasted Trump. “We don’t want to enter into a trade war,” she said. “That only affects the people.” She also made crystal-clear that any border issues are a pretext for Trump’s tariff war. After pointing out that the United States needs to take responsibility for the “demand” side of illegal drug smuggling, she declared,

“There is no reason, justification, or excuse that supports this decision that will affect our people and nations. We have said it in various ways: cooperation and coordination, yes; subordination and interventionism, no. Mexico deserves respect.”

Why does he needlessly make such objectively self-destructive moves? His tariffs certainly cannot be justified economically, and the predictable results are so severe, they make even less political sense. We know that Trump—who reads nothing, lacks the least bit of curiosity, and surrounds himself with thick-headed sycophants—often gets fixated on a wrongheaded idea (e.g., NATO is ripping us off). When challenged by numerous informed people, he digs deeper into his ignorant stances. Agreement with him (or at the very least silent acquiescence) becomes a sign of MAGA loyalty. Trump delights in playing the schoolyard bully. He is entirely uninterested in whether Americans get hurt or not. Similarly, he seems thrilled with his ability to threaten loyal allies (e.g. Denmark), as he did in his speech to Congress, simply because he can.

In private, and increasingly in public, Republicans confess that the tariffs are disastrous, but they shy away from blaming or offending Trump. Some Republicans will whisper off the record that they are afraid for their physical safety. Which is all the more reason to expose publicly the bully and his fascist shock troops. If these craven politicians are simply worried about losing their seats, they might consider that if we hit a recession they will get trounced in 2026. Either way, politicians who cannot muster the courage to represent their constituents’ needs and uphold their own oaths should find another line of work.

Maybe those free-marketers now yelping over the very policies Trump promised to enact would have done better to speak up before the election in support of the candidate who decried destructive, job-killing, growth-nixing, inflation-boosting tariffs—namely, former vice president, Kamala Harris.

Should Trump go through with this, the damage will be severe. “All told, for example, the prices of computers and electronic goods are estimated to rise by more than 10%, clothes by 7.5% and cars by 6.1%,” former car czar Steven Rattner explained. “The CEO of Target has said that produce prices (we get a lot from Mexico) could rise in the next several days. The CEO of Ford has said that tariffs would ‘blow a hole’ in the auto industry.”

Thanks to Trump’s thick-headedness and ignorance, American consumers, businesses, and workers will all face unnecessary pain. Sadly, Canadian and Mexican leaders have a far better grip on what benefits the American people than does Trump or his sniveling MAGA allies. Democratic leaders have an opportunity to defend our workers, consumers, and investors. They must seize it.