Summary
Donald Trump defended his sweeping new tariffs—including a 104% levy on Chinese goods—despite market turmoil and a historic sell-off in U.S. Treasuries.
Speaking to Republicans, he claimed manufacturing is returning to the U.S., repeating, “I know what the hell I’m doing.”
China responded with an 84% tariff on U.S. goods, intensifying a trade war that tanked global markets.
The S&P 500 nears bear territory, and JPMorgan raised global recession odds to 60%. Critics warn of inflation, declining investor confidence, and deepening economic instability.
The plan is “get the other countries to capitulate and offer me everything”. This is a classic Mafia power play - strangle out trade for everyone, show how much power you can exert with one stroke of a pen, and then walk it back as a flex. The message is “give me everything I demand or I can strangle trade with your country from the US” - this unfortunately only works when your diplomatic position is good enough to get OTHER countries to agree to the same thing, like with Cuba or Russia (sorta).