Canada and China Hit Back at Trump With Own Tariffs

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My New York friends and I were texting back and forth last night about the State of the Union speech, and I went to bed to let them get on with it. From what I gather, his jokes were “killing,” but if you watched the speech sober “you’re doing it wrong.” I also gather he made a “Pocahontas” joke about Elizabeth Warren and her fabled attempts to prove her Native American heritage by getting a DNA test which, to be fair, were totally misguided although her Twitter feed lately has been quite pointed for a law professor:

She also apologized for this stuff in 2019 but mud sticks. Unless it’s liability for sexual abuse mud, and you’re the president of the United States, in which case, let’s move along? To Warren’s credit, if Trump is mocking or belittling you, then you’ve made an impression. Unlike many of the congressional Democrats who are making a very good impression…of a limp jellyfish. Seriously guys you’re gonna wave little signs and shout a bit? That’s the best you could come up with. My idea was to all show up wearing outfits like Volodomyr Zelensky and get the President to criticize you for not wearing suits. Although signs that say “Musk Steals” are effective. They draw people up this path:

Okay, so that’s the State of the Union, which did not make the front pages, thank goodness. Instead, there’s a story by James Wagner about how pressure on Mexico through the tariffs has led to a rise in Mexican nationalism. Ironically, perhaps, by going hostile with 25 percent charges on Mexican goods, Trump has assured that the woman leading Mexico has an 80 percent approval rating. Yay for female leadership on the center left, right, Donald!?

Trump is also propping up Keir Starmer, the center left leader of England, through his Ukraine policy. Is there a pattern here?

Also:

My friend Ron talks about the “cliff" test. That is, most people assume there’s a line of decorum and that the cliff is pretty close. But in fact, you can often push the line of decorum far further than you thought you could, and still avoid going over the cliff. Another phrase for this is “widening the Overton window,” and the theory goes that by acting like a toddler in public, Trump broadens the range of views that are available for public use in society — including, say, Elon Musk’s Nazi salutes. I don’t believe Trump is that strategic. I think he’s just a toddler. But these theories are fascinating. One wonders whether the international trade tariffs are part of a policy effort to just see how far away the cliff is. How much nonsense will global trade and stock markets take before retaliating?

I don’t know if you’ve checked your 401 (k) today but the answer is: Not this much nonsense. And they’re likely to get more ornery the longer this cliff-chasing goes on. Here’s a nice graphic from the Internet:

The Times today goes full-on with analysis of the tariffs and their impacts. Perhaps the most daring quote is from Senator Ted Cruz, Republican Senator from Texas, who told reporters that he hoped the tariffs would not persist.

That’s brave from a Senator when Trump has been outspoken about running primary opponents against Senators who speak out against him. Likewise you can almost hear Cruz pleading with his boss to stop the madness.

The bad news, I’m afraid, is that the madness is unlikely to stop. Remember this quote about Trump’s Ukraine strategy?

…I’m afraid I think you could substitute that for his trade strategy, too.

Thanks for reading the newspaper with me, friends, and please talk about what you’ve read with your friends!

Matt Davis lives in New York with his wife and kid.