Seven Reasons Trump’s Inexplicable Tariff War Makes Sense
Dancing for them that brung him
Jeffrey Denny
Here in Washington, DC, I’m blessed to know many intelligent, educated, informed, thoughtful, sensible public policy professionals who are smarter than I’ll ever be.
Yet they’re flummoxed by Trump’s apocalyptic global tariff war that’s wrecking the U.S. economy, stock market, retirement savings, and America’s alliances and leadership in the world. Especially when Trump and his own team can’t get their rationale straight.
A close friend says it’s simple: Trump insane, irrational, unpredictable, out of control — he doesn’t know what he’s doing. I believe his actions are deliberate, intentional and make perfect, consistent, logical sense.
Everything he does he does for his base, no matter how stupid, misguided, or destructive to them and the nation they claim to love more than anyone else. Trump is spreading chaos, uncertainty and fear to trigger the libs and delight his MAGAs and their media.
MAGAs feel powerless; he empowers them, bullying their imagined enemies and even the world for them. As he declared, “I am your retribution.”
Like a sailor lost at sea, MAGA is Trump’s unerring North Star. And like Trump on a Big Mac, they’re lovin’ it. Seven reasons:
1. Trump is screwing foreigners
Especially the snooty liberal Socialist Europeans who sniff at fat stupid American tourists who, for instance, don’t know that the French fiche le camp, andouille boudin is playful slang for fuck yourself away from here, ugly American.
2. Trump is making the world bend to his knee
And come crawling and competing to be chosen for his regal dispensation. The more power he amasses and uses, or even abuses, the prouder MAGAs are of him (and themselves).
“Trump appears to care more about the process of gaining leverage over others — including other countries — than he does about any particular effective tariff rate. The endgame here is that there is no endgame, only the infinite game of power and leverage,” Atlantic Monthly’s Derek Thompson put it.
3. Trump is pandering to blind patriotism
He wants the world to make stuff here, even if we lack the labor force to make it better and cheaper than imports, especially as our birth rate and immigration shrinks. MAGAs also hate college, which the 21st-century economy demands. No wonder China, with its universal higher education covering 60% of its population (versus our 38% with degrees), is eating our lunch.
Meanwhile, millions of MAGAs who demand “Made in America” and hate immigrants are too old to work and depend on government checks and discount-priced imports. “While Walmart emphasizes US sourcing, it also sources products from around the world to meet customer demand for variety, quality, and affordability, and to develop small suppliers globally,” Walmart says.
4. Trump is Atlas shrugging
MAGAs are nostalgic for when America was the undisputed global leader. They don’t mind a world war — we won the last three, right? They don’t see how Trump is destroying everything we gained. And like Steelers fans, winning makes die-hard Trumpers feel great even if they did nothing but sit home and yell at the TV.
5. Trump is owning the smarty-pants
He’s the revenge against the nerds — the PhD economists, trade experts, and America Last globalist Deep State radical left lunatic pencil-necked geeks who don’t know their ass from an eraser like commonsense MAGAs do. Even as Trump boasts about his elite education that, like his echo chamber Fox News personalities, helps him fool the MAGAs.
6. Trump is systematically destroying government
Which MAGAs knee-jerk hate, of course, even without knowing what government does, even while depending on government more and paying less taxes for it than anyone.
7. Trump wants to make America look like MAGAs
Misery loves company. He knows struggling people feel better if everyone else is struggling too. You’re not alone. It’s not your fault. You got screwed over by someone. So dragging America down to their situation makes him a personal hero and even more powerful.
That’s Trump’s end game. As Harvey Fierstein cried out in “Torch Song Trilogy,” “I just want to be loved, is that so wrong?!” So Trump’s not crazy. But he is very sick.
Jeffrey Denny is a Washington writer.
