Donald Trump and White House officials walked back a Friday announcement that there would be tariff exemptions on imported electronics.
In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump directly denied the tariff exemption announcement.
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“This is really mind-boggling. If this was serious industrial policy, the main thing you want is certainty: ‘Here’s the tariff, it will be in place for the indefinite future, and you should plan accordingly,’” Dean Baker, an economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a left-leaning think tank, said, according to The Washington Post. “Here, it’s basically: ‘Come back next week and see what we’ve got.’ That’s no way to run an economy.”
You imply that this is done with intent?
The first part, sure: show them the stick, then dangle the carrot. But the walkback of the excemption was intentional?
I don’t think so. It’s all just blatant extortion attempts followed by bumbling cluelessness.
I think it’s time we stop assuming this is just simply stupidity. He’s an entertainer who’s made his public career by being a meme while at the same time being a conman. He’s been effectively toeing the line between joke and conman for decades and knows that if he plays dumb and schmoozes enough, he can do whatever he wants. We’re talking about a guy who successfully turned “You can do anything. Grab 'em by the pussy.” into “it’s just locker talk between guys.” a close relationship with a known human trafficker and pedofile into “he’s a terrific guy,” and proceeded to walk away from a rape case and 34 felony convictions with no penalty.
Time and time again he’s shown exactly the kind of guy he really is, and it isn’t just a bumbling idiot. It’s a career criminal who knows exactly what he’s doing and how to be smooth enough to get away scot-free. Why would this be any different? Just because it’s on a grand scale?
I see it more differentiated. He is not a complete idiot. He (and his team) know what they’re doing when he makes outrageous claims about Greenland, China, Panama etc. to have a better position when he offers the country “a good deal”. But when that rather predictable stratagem doesn’t go as planned, they flounder.
We’ve seen it a few times now; at least to me there’s a clear difference between their regular “throwing shit at the wall” tactic, and something like this or Signalgate or JD’s recent visit to Greenland, when it’s just totally clear that things did not go as planned.
There’s no 4D chess here.
I don’t think it’s their intent to destabilize the world market (to what end?), just a simple “grab as much as possible for
ourselvesthe USA”.Putin doesn’t plan so meticulously either, he just backs the guy who’s most likely to destabilize “The West” through his sheer cleptocracy and partial idiocy, if you will.
Also I don’t think anyone’s reaction here is “surprised pikachu” - though I must admit he and his entourage still manage to out-outrage themselves every now and then. And I reserve the right to not normalize Trumplon, i.e. continue to be outraged by it.