I really wish reporters would fully understand why Trump loves tariffs so much. He believes there should be *no international trade* at all. He thinks he can force all the world's manufacturing to move to the US. He really does. He's not sophisticated. He's not "negotiating." He's a moron. - ThreadSky

digby56.bsky.social • 2 days ago

I really wish reporters would fully understand why Trump loves tariffs so much. He believes there should be *no international trade* at all. He thinks he can force all the world's manufacturing to move to the US. He really does. He's not sophisticated. He's not "negotiating." He's a moron.

Comments

cre0.bsky.social•2 days ago

He’s “negotiating” the way I played Mortal Kombat as a kid: just keep doing the one move you know until the other guy falls down. When you lose just get more quarters from dad.

martijon.bsky.social•2 days ago

Thank you Digby. I think most of us just can’t get a handle on how profoundly stupid this man is. Indictment of our entire society that he is president.

policyg.bsky.social•2 days ago

Trump thinks he know more about the economy than Adam Smith and the hundreds of years of data since. For some context, this is the equivalent of someone thinking the theory of gravity is all wrong and Newton was an idiot.

richpr.bsky.social•2 days ago

I disagree. When Trump talks about making America Great Again, he’s not referring to the 1950’s. He’s referring to the Gilded Age, when wealth was concentrated in relatively few hands, and there was no income tax. Federal revenue came from tariffs and excise (sales) taxes.
…

richpr.bsky.social•2 days ago

…American Imperialism was still in full swing. There was no Dept of Ed, SEC, OSHA, EPA, NLRB, CFPB, etc. There were no antitrust laws (until late in that era). Women and minorities had minimal rights.

Trump’s policies have an uncanny alignment with those conditions, and it’s not a coincidence.

rationalhum.bsky.social•2 days ago

That's an insightful summary of what Trump (and the oligarchy) actually want.

jbyrdmarshall.bsky.social•2 days ago

Years from now we're going to learn about the back channel that the Trump White House used to inform various oligarchs about tariff announcements ahead of time to allow them to systemically game the stock market. #mmw

cyndoots.bsky.social•2 days ago

If we are lucky enough to do a retrospective on this shitshow, we will find a staggering amount of corruption. Of that, I am certain.

goldenretrieverear.bsky.social•2 days ago

He is NOT a moron.
He is destroying the US on purpose at the request of Putin.
The right hasn't been planning on taking over the US they have been planning on destroying it.
And here we are.

thomasamiller.bsky.social•2 days ago

💯there's no 4D chess. he's eating game board pieces thinking they're candy

curiouswitness.bsky.social•2 days ago

You give him too much credit to think he believes tariffs are a way to influence the balance of domestic vs foreign production. On a more basic level, he thinks tariffs are free money paid by trading partners to compensate for a purchasing imbalance between the parties. Like you said, a moron...

curiouswitness.bsky.social•2 days ago

Also worth noting that he thinks the purchasing imbalance has something to do with one country ripping the other off, which is not only dumb but completely bizarre, as if money is worth more than the goods and services you receive for it. Not even other dumb people draw that nonsensical conclusion.

catfrat.bsky.social•2 days ago

It’s so dumb it’s almost hard to wrap your head around. If I buy something from you for $100 then you buy something from me for $40 it doesn’t mean you’re “ripping me off” and owe me $60. When he starts ranting about trade imbalances I have to remind myself that he actually believes this

deruman.bsky.social•2 days ago

Stock market indices suggest investment is already fleeing the US for more friendly places

verbalist.bsky.social•2 days ago

He knows the con requires he perform the part of “the boss” by wielding power. He’s an idiot, but he knows he doesn’t need to know how it all works. He’s purely a power hog.

pre3chorded.bsky.social•2 days ago

I think Trump loves tariffs because he can personally grant exemptions to them, and that's perfect because Trump ultimately wants people bribing and groveling before him.

gofdog.bsky.social•2 days ago

Yes! He wants all decisions funneled through him. This made his first term bearable because he lacked the focus, ability, and understanding to make so many decisions with any consistency.

palmspringscalvin.bsky.social•2 days ago

It has the added benefit of being an extremely regressive tax. Lower class people will take the biggest hit as a percent of their income.

cyndoots.bsky.social•2 days ago

He’s doubly moronic because he forgets that any manufacturing he brings to/back to the US is going to make that item triple the cost largely because of what we need to spend for people power.

billnemacheck.bsky.social•2 days ago

He's just like Governor William J. Le Petomane.

knife-gator.bsky.social•2 days ago

Have you not read The Little Orange Book? The U.S. can become the world's #1 steel producer by building backyard furnaces. There is no way that would impact our agricultural production and lead to a famine.
Donald J. Trump Thought for a bright new future!

kroe14.bsky.social•2 days ago

The current trade regime, U.S. consumption, and asset valuations is made possible because the trade deficit is counterbalanced by capital inflows. Foreign ownership of dollars, T-Bills, real estate, etc…You would think a real estate “tycoon” would have some minimal knowledge of this.

bschefke.bsky.social•2 days ago

Trump doesn't believe in mutually beneficial relationships. Any "deal" has a winner, who gets everything, and a loser, who pays the costs. That's the mental framework he has for life in general.

drinkyouroj.bsky.social•2 days ago

Even if Chump’s Tariffs could bring jobs back to the US, who is going to do the work? Unemployment is around 4% according to FRED. We’ll have to sacrifice higher level professionals and technical services to do base level manufacturing. It’s dumb.

mod1968.bsky.social•2 days ago

Yup. Was just listening to that interview with Jeffrey Epstein where he says the only thing Trump understands is real estate.

cyndoots.bsky.social•2 days ago

He went bankrupt a few times with real estate do I doubt he even understands that.

policyg.bsky.social•2 days ago

His father built his entire profitable real estate empire (which was built on cheaply building lower income housing and renting it out). Trump has done nothing but screw it up ever since.

cyndoots.bsky.social•2 days ago

We are seeing history repeat itself. January 20th he was handed something solvent and less than 2 months after, he’s done nothing but muck it up. Gotta give him credit for getting an A+++ in destroying everything he touches though…

zonk84.bsky.social•2 days ago

If we survive this dumbass -- I really hope it is a new dawn of some classic Adam Smith.

1) "International Trade" in free market economies is NOT a nation-to-nation endeavor, but simply individuals to individuals

2) Just because another nation puts rocks in its harbors doesn't mean you should, too

youwerewarned.bsky.social•2 days ago

I think he’s just trying to get companies to bend knee to him. He’s just negotiating deals for himself. If he drops the tariffs what will pull the companies do for him?

alejitob.bsky.social•2 days ago

Or how about ONCE asking him how they work

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