Trump’s Tariffs Reveal They'd Threaten a U.S. Meltdown
Best guess is that Treasury Secretary Bessent made him realize we were entering financial free fall.
Trump’s Tariffs Reveal They’d Threaten a U.S. Meltdown
Best guess is that Treasury Secretary Bessent made him realize we were entering financial free fall.
After Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement of staggering “reciprocal” tariffs triggered days of steep stock market plunges, the President painted a picture of a world groveling at his feet, saying on Tuesday:
“These countries are calling us up, kissing my ass. They are, they are dying to make a deal. Please, please, sir, make a deal. I’ll do anything. I’ll do anything, sir.”
At a Republican dinner that evening he said:
"They’re all coming here. Japan is coming here as we speak. They’re in a plane, flying, lots of them”.
But after yet another day of stock index collapse, on Wednesday the President could only weakly urge everyone to buy stocks, posting at 9:37 that morning on Truth Social, “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT.”
That was before Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that morning instilled in him what must have been a fear bordering on panic, enough to induce him to announce at 1:18 that afternoon his 90-day pause in the steep tariff imposition penalizing countries around the world.
Bessent undoubtedly schooled him in what it meant that both the bond markets and the dollar were in sharp declines of their own other than just the stock markets. Trump evidently took fright from the tariff chaos he had created when he was made to understand that the sell-off of U.S. Treasury bonds — normally regarded as the safest refuge from world turmoil — was signaling a loss of confidence in America’s future. The U.S. operates on borrowed money — witness our huge national debt — and if the world decides to pull its funds because the U.S. looks to become unstable, the government would need to offer exorbitant interest rates to lure them back, if they return at all. The spiraling cost of interest, already higher than what we spend on defense, could send the nation spiraling into bankruptcy.
Commenting on the gyrations before and after the 90-day walk back, The Wall Street Journal editorial board, having with some misgivings generally supported Trump, showed its disgust:… Continue reading
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