Trump’s Tariffs: A $304 Billion Plot at the Expense of U.S. Citizens and Allies
U.S. allies should stand strong against the Trump administration while firmly supporting the American people to sustain the transatlantic relationship.
Image from Out5p0ken & Shallow State
“He made $2.5 million today, and he made $900 million! That’s not bad,” Trump said, pointing to financial investor Charles Schwab and NASCAR billionaire Roger Penske.
Bloomberg reported that Wednesday was the “best day ever” for billionaires, as the world’s wealthiest people added $304 billion to their net worth after the 90-day tariff pause.’
Of course, this is not a pause but a reduction. The tariffs very much remain, with a 10% tariff on most countries with extreme outliers like China with 145% and Russia with 0% added tariffs from Liberation Day.
Liberation Day was insider trading on the largest scale we have ever seen.
Four hours before he announced the 90-day pause, he wrote on Truth Social, “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT,” just after U.S. markets opened on Wednesday morning.
Post on X from @TrumpDailyPosts
The incoherent plan has been defended by many in the administration and the henchmen propagandists of the MAGA movement. Justifying it as the ‘art of the deal’ in getting foreign nations to approach the U.S. with better trade agreements or as a means to develop U.S. manufacturing jobs.
Neither of those things happened. No deals were made, or jobs came back to the U.S. from overseas. The opposite is true: jobs declined as markets trembled and foreign partners turned to each other in search of stability.
As Trump has said before, he does “better in bad markets.” Trump and those behind him have intentionally caused this market decline to acquire assets on the cheap.
Europe is ever more approaching relationships nurtured in advance to the Trump administration. There is an imminent free trade agreement between the EU and India now in the works, and signs of a potential EU rapprochement with China, as the EU will host a summit for dignitaries from Beijing in July. Canada, which reaps significant rewards from a free trade agreement with the EU, wants to take the relationship further and deepen economic ties, according to trade minister Mary Ng, while speaking with Reuters last Saturday.
The impact of Liberation Day was most immediately felt by Americans. They watched their retirements decline by the thousands, the prospect of buying a new iPhone go up by tens of thousands of dollars, and small and medium enterprises were forced to begin contemplating, at minimum, reducing their workforce or, at worst, closing shop entirely.
What these three days have demonstrated is the most on-the-nose affirmation that Trump and the MAGA tent have no interest in national security or prosperity and, by byproduct, are willing to use allies as props. Their goal, unlike any presidential administration before them, was purely for self-gain.
As a bloc, the EU is one of the largest trading partner of the US, with a yearly near trillion dollars passing between both economic zones. And yet, the Trump administration was willing to risk that relationship, and the pain it would bring his electorate.
Excellent interactive map on EU created jobs in the US by the World Economic Forum.
Hours after the tariffs were suspended, Macron gathered stakeholders at the Elysée Palace, where he called on all companies within the EU to stop investing in the U.S. “until we have clarified things.”
As a result of preparation for the Trump term, with the Trump Task Force, the EU was able to quickly agree to 25% retaliatory tariffs on the US, which they have since suspended.
Both Macron and the EU at large have this wrong.
This approach treats this Trump administration as if it represents the interest of the country and the will of the people.
My counterparts in Europe regularly ask me to rationalize the national strategic ideology behind this administration and to understand the role Europe must play over the next four years.
The answer to both is simple: Trump serves no national purpose, and thus the role of Europe over the next four years will be to retaliate not against the U.S. country or government but against the stakeholders of this administration while deeply allying itself with the American people.
Trump won the popular vote, but he did so by 1.5% of the vote. Trump also did not campaign on the devastation of the U.S. and global economy as a means for insider trading. The opposite was what the MAGA movement was promised—a new golden age of America. The actions of this admin do not represent the will of the people.
Image by Adam Gray for The New York Times.
Last Saturday, at least 1,400 protests took place across the U.S. against the actions of this administration. A few weeks before, thousands of veterans took the National Mall to protest the cuts to the VA. At present, his approval rating is in decline, with ratings as low as in his first term.
If Europe is to ride out this storm, it should fall in line with approaches like the Yukon government's targeted measures against Elon’s enterprises and Scottish MP Christine Jardin’s proposal to welcome skilled Americans into Scotland.
Europe and U.S. allies need to go local in sustaining this transatlantic relationship.
Welcome Americans into Europe
Use targeted visa schemes to attract high-skilled workers, students, researchers, and political refugees seeking stability and shared democratic values.Leverage Sister Cities
Strengthen cultural and civic ties by using sister city relationships to communicate directly with Americans about the vitality of the transatlantic alliance.Engage the Private Sector in Policy Exchange
Facilitate state and national legislature dialogues that unite U.S. and European localities—collaborating on:
Free trade exemptions
Shared political messaging
Governance best practices
Democratic resilience and innovation
Aggressively use the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (PA)
Utilize the NATO PA to engage and persuade national legislators across the alliance—reinforcing the value of transatlantic unity and mounting resistance to Trump-era obstructionism.
In tandem, allies should retaliate to Trumpian aggression in any form with a targeted response that impacts the business, stakeholders, interest groups, and U.S. regions ideology aligned with MAGA that underpins this administration.
Appeasement won't work, and neither will an all-out trade war.
This battle for democracy and transatlantic security is not between peoples or states but between a self-interested elite. To beat it, we must surpass traditional norms for state relations and find innovative solutions to combat this growing autocracy.