Liberation Day? Pshaw. President Trump may be gloating about imposing sweeping tariffs on America’s allies and adversaries abroad, but he is beginning to face blowback at home for his strange farrago of policies that are upending the federal government and threatening to plunge America into a self-induced recession.
First Senator Cory Booker raised the flagging spirits of Democrats by holding a 25-hour speech denouncing all things Trump, thereby setting a record for the longest floor speech in Senate history. Next, in two key special congressional races in Florida, Democrats did not win but narrowed the gap sufficiently in red districts to cause palpitations among Republican politicians heading into the midterm elections in 2026.
Finally, in Wisconsin, where tech tycoon Elon Musk spent $25 million (£19 million) to try and secure an election for the GOP for the state supreme court, the liberal candidate, Susan Crawford, handily defeated her opponent, former Republican attorney general Brad Schimel. Former president Barack Obama was quick to congratulate the new liberal hero on X: ‘Congratulations to Judge Susan Crawford on her victory, and to the people of Wisconsin for electing a judge who believes in the rule of law and protecting our freedoms.’
With Trump set to endorse reciprocal tariffs or a universal tariff on Wednesday during a Rose Garden ceremony, he may well deliver a further blow not only to the economy but also to the Republican party’s political prospects. Already Republican legislators are starting to quiver at the prospect of instituting what amounts to a hefty tax increase. Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina observed on Tuesday, ‘anyone who says there may be a little bit of pain before we get things right needs to talk to my farmers who are one crop away from bankruptcy.’ Both Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky, who ordinarily have little in common, are indicating that they may support a resolution that is being forwarded by Democratic senator Tim Kaine that opposes tariffs on Canada.
‘Don’t let the Democrats have a Victory,’ Trump declared. ‘It would be devastating for the Republican party and, far more importantly, for the United States.’
As much as he may mock professional economists or claim that tariffs will raise enormous amounts of revenue from foreigners for the American treasury, Trump’s proposed policies carry more than a whiff of woe, ruin, destruction and decay. White House adviser Peter Navarro’s contention that ‘the message is that tariffs are tax cuts,’ prompted the Wall Street Journal editorial page to scoff, ‘George Orwell, call your office.’ Perhaps a refresher course in Coben and Bright might also be in order for Navarro and Co.
Nor is this all. The stock market has been reeling and consumer confidence sinking. Goldman Sachs has lowered its projections for economic growth. As the Republican political strategist Antonia Ferrier told me on Tuesday: ‘There is no amount of MAGA fairy dust that can hide how destructive these import taxes will be on working Americans. Unfortunately, we are all going to pay the price for his single-minded commitment to destroying the global trading order.’ That global trading order has functioned smoothly since 1945, when America set the rules of the game, many of them in its own favor.
Now Trump, who has been obsessed with the notion that America’s allies are fleecing it, may be about to sacrifice the advantages that have accrued to Washington over the decades, including the dollar as the world’s principal reserve currency. Apart from his tariff lunacy, Trump also appears about to embark on a fresh quixotic quest that will further upend relations with Europe. The Washington Post reports that Trump has tasked Russ Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, to perform a cost analysis of purchasing and controlling Greenland.
Trump, you could say, has a special talent for turning friends into foes. China is boasting that it will coordinate with Japan and South Korea to respond jointly to Trump’s tariffs, while Canada is cooperating with the European Union. My, my. Who’s feeling liberated now?
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