WASHINGTON – As he prepares for his second appointment, Donald Trump made it clear that he needs to quickly impose his tariffs on his economic team.
One of the top position candidates suggested to him during the transition that moving more carefully might be a better idea. He didn’t get a job, said the person who explained the issue.
“He (Trump) wasn’t very sympathetic,” he told those who advised Goslow’s approach, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The president is in a hurry. Executive orders, tariffs, mass shootings – everything is happening at a rate that makes it difficult for the country to catch up. And it’s hard for Trump to do it.
The chaotic start of his presidency was characterized by a rash of reversal and retreat as his party controlled the House of Congress and he rushed to carry out his agenda while both his political capital was at its peak.
His advisors are well aware of the looming deadlines. This is the mid-year parliamentary election for the next year and a half. If Republicans lost control of Congress, the Trump presidency could have ended for practical purposes. The Democratic majority could certainly thwart ambitious legislative initiatives, armed with subpoena powers, and paralyze half of his presidency through investigative hearings.
“Trump has hindsight from the first term that if he doesn’t get things done now, he won’t get them,” Trump pollster John McLaughlin said in an interview. “And he also realizes from his first term that if he fails to get things done and loses his home and Senate in the middle term, he will be bounced each again.”
Investors and everyday Americans seem to be worried about Americans in the future too. A closely monitored consumer trust report from the University of Michigan found this month a decline of 11% from March and 34% from the previous year. The proportion of consumers who believe the unemployment rate will rise over the next year is at its highest level since 2009 amid the global financial crisis.
Another measure to track expectations of how the market will fluctuate next month — known as the “fear” or “panic” index — reached its highest point last week since the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Move fast and break things.”
The cost of traveling so fast was a collective confusion about what Trump has done so far and whether his actions were actually stuck.
They believe that the administration’s aggressive efforts to deport undocumented immigrants were seen as a threat to the country.
By its own acceptance, the administration quickly deported Maryland man Kilmer Abrego Garcia to the infamous prison in El Salvador, and drove Venezuelan gang members out of the United States. The Supreme Court ruled last week that the Trump administration must “promote” the return of Abrego Garcia.
Under billionaire mogul Elon Musk, the administration moved swiftly to reduce the government, firing thousands of probation workers and others when deemed consumables. This effort overturned the lives of government workers who suddenly found themselves in their work.
The Trump administration has full authority to reduce the pool of probation employees. No judge said that it wasn’t. What disrupts the judiciary is how the administration went.
“Move fast and break things,” US District Judge James Bleder said at a Maryland hearing about the government’s attempts to fire workers across the country. “Move fast, fine. Break things? If it involves breaking the law, it becomes a problem.”
Typical performance reductions require personnel to be ranked based on factors including job performance and military service. Once that review is complete, employees will receive a 60-day notification. The process usually takes about a year. Some agencies have been compressed over the weekend as employees learn to fire through a massive amount of email.
A by-product of downsizing is the disruption of government services that many Americans consider to be the norm.
The Social Security Agency received a busy signal when it called in March, an agency that benefits around 70 million people each month. This has increased from 1.5% from the previous month. Last month, only 39% were able to contact agents by phone, but last May was 71%.
“We’re looking to make governments even more effective,” said Max Stier, president and CEO of Partnership for Partnerships, a nonprofit organization that aims to make governments more effective.
Trump’s tariff policy is now like a “Red Rover” game, with Trump taking scores for countries hit by tariffs and negotiating trade deals he thinks tastes good. He set up a 90-day reduction in tariffs announced this month.
Looking from north of Canada, Canada was confused about Trump’s sudden announcement and struggled to sort out which tariffs were still in place, Canadian officials told NBC News.
“As far as Canada is concerned, it didn’t fully reveal to us exactly which tariffs were being taken and which took off,” the official said on condition of anonymity. “There were competing explanations about what was going on. It appears that the tariffs on steel and aluminum are still ongoing. This is very expensive for us and Americans.
“There’s no real way to do that, there’s no geopolitical connection,” the official added. “It’s all very strange.”
New trade agreements take time. Trump’s first term took him years to implement trade agreements with two countries, Mexico and Canada.
Lengthy negotiations with European and Asian trading partners could extend uncertainty over tariffs that tend to raise consumer prices. And if you fail to reach the trade, this month it could lead to a stock market decline where 401(k) retirement savings have plummeted.
China is even more strict about it. Trump chose to move tariffs in China last week and raise it to 145%. China retaliated in physical form and exposed its never-ending trade war.
Another mysterious development took place this weekend. Late Friday, the Trump administration sent a notice that appears to withhold tariffs on laptops, smartphones and other tech products made in China, making it even more affordable. However, on Sunday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said those items would be covered by upcoming tariffs.
Bob Davis, a journalist who co-authored Trump’s first trade war history with China in his book “SuperPower Showdown,” said in his first semester that talks with China went in a more orderly way than is happening now.
At the time, there was a hearing to ensure that American companies were not injured by tariffs more than China. Trump made the final decision, but he followed the advice of experienced trade officials like Robert Lighthizer, Davis said.
“This time,” Davis continued, and Trump imposed “huge tariffs,” leaving “without the time to negotiate or the process in which US companies claim that more tariffs would be hurt than China or other trading partners.”
When asked to comment, White House spokesman Kush Desai said, “The only concern that leads President Trump’s decision-making is the greatest interest of Americans. President Trump hiked tariffs on China and suspended other mutual tariffs for 90 days after receiving good commitments from the majority of trading partners who were willing to come to favorable trade cooperation.
“The Trump administration is committed to using all tools at will to deal with the national emergency brought about by chronic trade obstacles, including both tariffs and negotiations,” he added.
I’m waiting for clarity
Mark Over Bay and his wife are the founders of Big Spoon Roaster, a small batch food business in Hillsboro, North Carolina. The company employs 15 people full time and produces special nut butter. It includes cashew butter with coconut nectar, carrot cake almond and walnut butter, and almond butter such as wildflower honey.
As certain spices and cashews are not grown in the US, Overbay mainly acquires them from Vietnam and other countries. And since the glass jars he needs to package his products are not made in the US, he gets them from China. Trump’s tariffs are threatening to raise his costs.
“There is no magical switch that can bring this dormant American glass container industry to life that doesn’t exist,” he said in an interview.
After Trump announced tariffs on what is called “liberation day” on April 2, suppliers importing cashew nuts sent a notice that prices would increase. Furthermore, the ambiguous statement said that the round-trip announcement on tariffs made it difficult for retailers to provide necessary notices of changes to product prices or specifications.
“If you change the bottle or size of something that changes the customer experience, you need to receive notifications,” Overbay said. “So we are always behind and are trying to keep up with the tariff news, which is hard to follow.
“We want to be more clear about our long-term plans in terms of how this will help American companies of all sizes,” he continued. “Many communities rely on the stability, predictability and reliability that consumers need to plan their budgets and shop for goods and services. What are the long-term plans to ensure economic stability and protect American small businesses in relation to these tariffs?”
There’s a lot to explain
Every president has a preferred way of communicating complex policies. During depression, Franklin Roosevelt helped restore confidence in the US economy through a fireplace-side chat that came out on the radio.
John F. Kennedy used an oval office address on a television to warn Americans of the fatal threat posed by the installation of Russian Cuban nuclear missiles. Barack Obama preferred the subtle and likely analysed set speech.
Trump speaks mostly to the country through all cap social media posts that will become viral and freewheel interactions with news media. No one can argue that his way of helping him win the country’s best office. But at this point he is trying so fast and so fast, testing the limits of what the distracting American masses can absorb.
Trump’s first 100-day scorecard shows him ending the Russian-Ukrainian war, signing contracts with Iran on a nuclear weapons program, rebuilding American manufacturing bases, buying up Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal, revenge the abuse he appears to have been shown during his first term, and spinning through the Gaza Strip into the Gaza Strip.
At once.
“The challenge Trump has is that he is trying to solve so many important issues at once, and many of them are very difficult,” said McLaughlin, a Trump poller. “They’re difficult, and they take their time.”
That being said, Trump wouldn’t want to reduce his ambitions.
“That’s not his personality,” McLaughlin said. “That’s not his nature.”