Tariffs, Trump, and the Theater of Economic Toughness
When people talk about Donald Trump and tariffs, they often talk past each other. Supporters frame tariffs as bold economic nationalism. Critics sometimes dismiss them as pure stupidity. Neither explanation really gets at what was actually happening. Tariffs under Trump were not primarily an economic strategy. They were political theater. Loud, confrontational, easy to explain in a tweet, and perfectly suited to a worldview that mistakes domination for governance. That matters, because tariffs themselves are not inherently right-wing. The left has a long and complicated relationship with trade barriers. The problem was not that Trump used tariffs. The problem was how, why, and who ultimately paid for them. Let’s unpack that without pretending this was some 4D chess masterclass or, on the other hand, a random tantrum with spreadsheets attached. What tariffs actually are, minus the mythology A tariff is a tax on imported goods. That’s it. It is not a fine imposed on a foreign government....