Radical Arrogance
The through-line from deportations and DOGE to tariffs
As global markets crashed Thursday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick offered his Deep Thought: “Let Donald Trump run the global economy,” Lutnick said. “He knows what he’s doing. He’s been talking about it for 35 years.”
Lutnick is, of course, a model of sycophantic ignorance in whom the Gods of Idiocy are well pleased. But wittingly or not, he expressed the essence of Trump 2.0 in all of its glittering hubris.
Let Donald Trump run the global economy.
There it is. The voice in Donald Trump’s head.
Even as the markets plunged, businesses reeled, and our former allies girded their loins for a global trade war, analysts struggled to make sense of the president’s decision to wreak havoc on the economy.
“It’s hard to know which is more unsettling,” wrote the editors of the Economist, “that the leader of the free world could spout complete drivel about its most successful and admired economy. Or the fact that on April 2nd, spurred on by his delusions, Donald Trump announced the biggest break in America’s trade policy in over a century—and committed the most profound, harmful and unnecessary economic error in the modern era.”
The Financial Times calls Trump’s tariffs, “one of the greatest acts of self-harm in American history. They will wreak untold damage on households, businesses and financial markets across the world, upending a global economic order that America benefited from and helped to create.”
But why are we surprised?
Trump is a true-believer who’s had a fetish for tariffs for decades — and his ignorance of global trade is profoundly 19th century. But the bizarre tariffs still came as a shock, especially to those in the business community who told themselves that surely Trump was merely bluffing; surely this pro-business president would not trash the economy; surely, he would listen to reason.
Once again, though, they misread the man and the moment. They deluded themselves that they were dealing with a simulacrum of a conservative Republican.
But Trump is not governing as a conservative; he is not pursuing incremental or coherent change. By now it should be obvious that on one issue after another — race, gender, deportations, DOGE, universities, law firms, pardons, foreign policy — his agenda is profoundly radical, driven more by his id than any ideology or plan.
So once again, he turned the world upside down. This Republican president — the same one who switched sides in the Russia-Ukraine war last month — unilaterally imposed $6 trillion in new taxes — the largest tax increase in American history. As CNN notes: “Even when adjusting for inflation, that amount would be triple the tax increase put in place in 1942 to pay the cost of fighting World War II.”
The formula Trump used was a model of pure fuckery. Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers noted that it’s obvious that Trump computed the new tariffs “without using tariff data.”
This is to economics what creationism is to biology, astrology is to astronomy, or RFK thought is to vaccine science. The Trump tariff policy makes little sense EVEN if you believe in protectionist mercantilist economics.
Trump’s tariffs targeted two islands populated by pengiuns, but somehow exempted Russia, Belarus and North Korea.
But, insists Howard Lutnick: Let Donald Trump run the global economy. What could possibly go wrong?
Here again, let’s connect the dots: Trump’s radicalism burns with Trumpian arrogance. Trump is not just smashing and burning his way through the federal government, but through the culture, and the world order. It’s symbolized by a billionaire with a chainsaw; the tattooed swagger of idiots; the cruelty porn of his cabinet members.
And the endless threats of presidential retribution, using the massive cudgel of federal power to cow his critics and his enemies.
His culture of fear worked with the supine GOP. It’s worked with the billionaire tech bros and big media companies. It’s worked with the universities. It’s worked with the quislings in Big Law.
But that was merely prologue.
Each victory, each surrender, each grovel fuels the arrogance. Trump and his claque are emboldened to seize even more power.
Now the massive and arbitrary tariffs mean that the whole world — both nations and industries alike — will have to beg Trump himself for exemptions and relief. He has replaced free markets with the fear and favor of Donald Trump.
“Those trying to understand the tariffs as economic policy are dangerously naive,” notes Senator Chris Murphy. “No, the tariffs are a tool to collapse our democracy. A means to compel loyalty from every business that will need to petition Trump for relief.”
Murphy gets it:
“This week you will read many confused economists and political pundits who won’t understand how the tariffs make economic sense. That’s because they don’t. They aren’t designed as economic policy. The tariffs are simply a new, super dangerous political tool…
What could Trump demand as part of a quiet loyalty pledge? Public shows of support from executives for all his economic policy. Contributions to his political efforts. Promises to police employees’ support for his political opposition.
The tariffs are DESIGNED to create economic hardship. Why? So that Trump has a straight face rationale for releasing them, business by business or industry by industry. As he adjusts or grants relief, it’s a win-win: the economy improves and dissent disappears.
And once Trump has the lawyers, colleges and industry under his thumb, it becomes very hard for the opposition to have any viable space to maneuver. Trump didn’t invent this strategy. It’s the playbook for democratically elected leaders who want to stay in power forever.
Exit take:
BONUS: I had some thoughts last night.
“Let Trump run the world economy” (?????)
This might be a good time to remind ourselves that this is the same Donald Trump who went bankrupt six times. Including casinos.
I mean, FFS. This guy?
Let's start with Trump's casinos in Atlantic City:
"The Trump Taj Mahal, which was built and owned by President Trump, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1991. The Trump Plaza, the Trump Castle, and the Plaza Hotel, all owned by President Trump at the time, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1992. THCR, which was founded by President Trump in 1995, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2004. Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., the new name given to Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts after its 2004 bankruptcy, declared bankruptcy in 2009."
Then there's the list of "companies that had license agreements with President Trump [that] have failed":
"Trump Shuttle Inc., launched by President Trump in 1989, defaulted on its loans in 1990 and ceased to exist by 1992. Trump University, founded by President Trump in 2005, ceased operations in 2011 amid lawsuits and investigations regarding the company’s business practices. Trump Vodka, a brand of vodka produced by Drinks Americas under license from the Trump Organization, was introduced in 2005 and discontinued in 2011."
Also, "Trump Mortgage, LLC, a financial services company founded by President Trump in 2006, ceased operations in 2007. GoTrump.com, a travel site founded by President Trump in 2006, ceased operations in 2007. Trump Steaks, a brand of steak and other meats founded by President Trump in 2007, discontinued sales two months after its launch."
Etc. etc. etc.
Trump's bigoted, freaky new BFF: An Update.
We wrote about Trump’s weird attachment to Laura Loomer back in September. You can read it here.
Back then I described Loomer this way:
“It is extraordinary. Laura Loomer is not just a bigot, she is a freak. She is at the far edges of the fever swamp. Even Marjorie Taylor Greene described her as racist and offensive. And yet Donald Trump is associating with her; these are the kinds of people who have his ear right now. So, at this moment of the campaign — I mean think about this we're less than two months away from the election — Donald Trump is associating with some of the craziest, weirdest figures on the right.” — Me on “Morning Joe,” September 12, 2024
Well, she’s back. Of course. Via the NYT: After Meeting With Laura Loomer, Trump Fires National Security Council Officials
It was a remarkable spectacle: Ms. Loomer, who has floated the baseless conspiracy theory that the Sept. 11 attacks were an “inside job” and is viewed as extreme by even some of Mr. Trump’s far-right allies, was apparently wielding more influence over the staff of the National Security Council than Mr. Waltz, who runs the agency. A longtime supporter of Mr. Trump who has frequently spoken of her desire to work with him, Ms. Loomer was one of Mr. Trump’s most vicious online enforcers during the 2024 campaign.
Exit take: FFS. But I repeat myself.
Friday dogs
Eli watching his mom play piano, while keeping an eye on the turkeys outside.
I guess I am surprised. I’m surprised that for the first time in my adult life, my “defensive pessimism” fell way short of reality, as it unfolded. I’ve been prepping since November 5, even though I’m not a survivalist. I did it with the full expectation that I would discover I had wasted that time and money. Wrong.
Where to now? We don’t have all the information, but I think that, along with reports, thoughts, and prognostications, we need to start sharing “survival” tips. A strategy for protecting ourselves as much as possible, without all the facts.
For example, I all but begged my financial advisor at Vanguard to move more of my retirement holdings to a “safer” place. Not once, but twice since Trump won. But where to stash it? This cabal of traitors wants to eliminate the FDIC. In the end he prevailed by reminding me of our usual “bounce back” after previous disasters like 9/11 and Covid. “We have a formula that has withstood the tests of time”. Not anymore.
Simply, this is the Dunning-Kruger effect writ large. Trump knows very little about anything important (OK, he's an expert bullshitter), but he believes he is an expert on many things. He portrays himself as an expert. So he is believed to be an expert, when in fact he has very little expertise in anything.