Summary
Donald Trump defended his sweeping new tariffs—including a 104% levy on Chinese goods—despite market turmoil and a historic sell-off in U.S. Treasuries.
Speaking to Republicans, he claimed manufacturing is returning to the U.S., repeating, “I know what the hell I’m doing.”
China responded with an 84% tariff on U.S. goods, intensifying a trade war that tanked global markets.
The S&P 500 nears bear territory, and JPMorgan raised global recession odds to 60%. Critics warn of inflation, declining investor confidence, and deepening economic instability.
He does know what he is doing. He just doesn’t care about anyone else. And he is basing his opinion that what he is doing will work out simply because everything else he has done has “worked out” to get him where he is. In the narrow scope of just him, his thought process is almost rational. But the world is bigger than him, even if he doesn’t want to believe it.