After all the drama and the stock market meltdown all day, trump raised the pique level with China with a new set of dreadful tweets at 5:00 p.m. today. Acting like a very lonesome high school bully with extremely hurt feelings, trump
- Raised the existing tariff on $250 billion of Chinese goods from 25% to 30%.
- Raised the tariff that was supposed to go into effect on Sep 1 on $300 billion of products from 10% to 15%.
- He ended the tweet with “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”.
This is mind-bogglingly puerile — both in style and in substance. Perhaps, his bullying and intimidation worked with his real-estate business contractors and employees and may even appeal to a certain low-contribution segment of our society, but is it time the adults in this country escort this pathetic excuse of a president out of the WH — peacefully or forceably, before he uses the economic and military might of the USA to destroy the world?
He obviously does not understand trade (or economics or international relations or technology or manufacturing or for that matter anything that require brain cells) and he has no idea how to solve any problem; he knows only how to threaten, impose punitive tariffs, act macho and sell snake-oil to his clueless base.
Earlier in the day, he issued “orders” to American companies to immediately stop working with China.
And called the Fed Chairman and the Chinese Premier enemies of the U.S.
Markets nosedived today -
The Down shed 400 points in a matter of minutes around 11:00 a.m. today. My immediate reaction was to search for a trump tweet or press announcement. Lo behold, it was the set of tweets (some shown above) that triggered the market collapse. Lord only knows, what Monday morning and the following weeks will bring. Anyone know what trump really wants from China? A Kim-style love letter?
Some reactions and insights —
This was before today’s escalation of the trade war -
And we aren’t even talking about all the horrendous things he set in motion this week on gun non-control, flouting laws and precedents on indefinite detention of immigrants, ending birthright citizenship, stoking white nationalism, recession but no recession, the Greenland rebuff, ...
And now he is headed to the G7 summit in France for the weekend. Lord knows what mayhem he will cause there as his brooding and sulking with continue there. He will certainly feel the scorn and spite of G7 leaders there (Trudeau, Macron, Merkel, ...), except perhaps for his apprentice Boris Johnson. His buddy (Daddy) Putin does not get invited to the G7 (thanks Obama), which is another source of his pitiful pique. I would hazard a guess that trump will announce new tariffs against France and Germany — just to shown ‘em who is boss.
Is trump acting alone? Is someone else pulling his strings? Is he being encouraged and goaded by others, perhaps the sociopaths he surrounds himself with? What should be done to stop this train which is hurtling towards the abyss?