While Trump Fiddles, the Nation Burns

 

While Trump Fiddles, the Nation Burns 

PETER ON THE WRITERS’ HANGOUT PODCAST!

"We have massive Financial Deficits with China, the European Union, and many others… The only way this problem can be cured is with TARIFFS, which are now bringing Tens of Billions of Dollars into the U.S.A. They are already in effect, and a beautiful thing to behold. The Surplus with these Countries has grown during the 'Presidency' of Sleepy Joe Biden. We are going to reverse it, and reverse it QUICKLY. Some day people will realize that Tariffs, for the United States of America, are a very beautiful thing!" Trump on social media, April 6th… with a litany of total fabrications.

I’ll give you that the myth that Nero fiddled as Rome burned down was just that, a myth. But Donald Trump’s platitudes, as market continue to plunge and retaliatory reactionary measures are applied from countries facing absurdly high new US tariffs, are indeed terrifying. If we can stick with allusions to ancient Rome, Mr Trump has indeed crossed the Rubicon, a point of no return, where even if he were to declare a return to the minimal, pre-April 2nd trade restrictions, there are virtually no nations on earth that would trust this mercurial, acerbic bully… or even the United States itself, since after a very good recovery from the pandemic under a Democratic administration, voters opted to elect Trump a second time. As of this writing, Trump has engaged Elon Musk (with no discernable government or human relations skills) to destroy MAGA’s vision of the “deep state,” to wit almost the entire federal bureaucracy. To be replaced by MAGA believers, Trump ultra-loyalists. So far, Trump has “ordered” implementation of 42% of the Project 2025 platform.

As mosquito-born dengue fever is making an notable rise in warmer states, measles is spreading and killing children, bird flu is exercising its zoonotic abilities to cross into increasing numbers of animals (like dairy cows) and new strains of COVID are beginning to show what they can do, Trump’s least qualified cabinet appointment (and that is saying something given his clown car choices), RFK, Jr and, with DOGE help, is ordering a study as to why vaccines are dangerous as well as firing legions of highly trained, educated and experienced medical researchers who have spent decades protecting the American public against the spread of disease… very successfully.

As storms rage across the United States, Americans (particularly farmers) desperately need accurate weather reports… alas, DOGE has fired a whole pile of federal meteorologists and closed a number of their facilities. Perhaps in an effort to sidestep the Freedom of Information act, our highest national security, defense and diplomatic cabinet officers, seem routinely to use their unsecured personal smartphones and mildly encrypted chatrooms to discuss detailed military plans and capabilities. Meanwhile, the Defense Department has shut down the cyber-security watch against Russia. Indeed, “national security,” because we have been “invaded,” is the excuse that the Trump administration gives for routinely detaining aliens (even if here legally), and if they have any prominent tattoos, labeling them as gang members without any trial or due process. It is also Trumpian justification for ignoring court orders and shipping detainees to countries they are not from.

But here’s what most Americans are watching right now: “In the two days following Donald Trump’s tariff announcement, U.S. stocks shed some $7 trillion in value, ratcheting global tensions and recession probabilities to new heights. But beyond the immediate panic-selling in the market, many on Wall Street are expressing deeper concerns about the second-order effects of an uber-tariffed world: domestic job losses, diminished corporate earnings, and threats to the very economic and political frameworks that keep capital flowing. The theories behind the Trump administration’s shock therapy approach vary, as does insiders’ advice on how to best navigate the headwinds. ‘Man, buckle your seatbelt,’ said one banker, ‘this is going to be one rough ride.’” William Cohan, April 7th, Puck.com

The EU is even considering applying the “bazooka retaliatory measure,” a 2023-passed Anti-Coercion Instrument, which allows retaliation for trade restrictions imposed on the EU; if a diplomatic accord is not reached, the ACI can be used to shut access to its digital and financial markets to companies from the offending nation. Shutting down Facebook, X, Google and denying access to US investment and commercial banks?! Yup! Oh, and our non-51st state, Canada, has filed an action against the United States at the World Trade Organization.

When Trump appointed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, few knew that his former firm, Cantor Fitzgerald, was famous for betting against the US stock market, which made their bond trade more lucrative. Lutnick is the dude who suggested that if Social Security missed a month or two of beneficiary payments, only the fraudsters would complain… and that the tariff/trade wars were worth it even if the US faced a recession. DOGE’s approach to cutting sacred cows like Social Security and veterans’ medical benefits is to gut the relevant staffing needed to keep these systems running... so they snail and implode. But the rich are happy because the IRS staffing has been cut so profoundly, that the detailed audits needed to collect from these scofflaws won’t happen much anymore. The estimated loss from this move is 10% of our aggregate taxes paid.

But we face worse than a recession, more like a 1970s stagflation where prices go up as the economy sinks! And given the fact that the American voters elected Trump a second time as the economy was the best performer on earth, most of the world will not trust any commitment that the US makes for a very, very, long time. 

I’m Peter Dekom, and even a trust that has built up over a century can be eroded for decades by shifty moves such as the Trump tariffs and trade restrictions, particularly when the justification for such trade restrictions is based on lies and cannot actually be blamed on Biden, who left the country in great shape.