Donald Trump would like to personally run the economy.
In his second term, the president has attempted to bend the Federal Reserve to his will, threatened individual countries and even companies with tariffs, and gotten government stakes in major companies.
The Iran war is showing the costs of that approach, quite literally. Six months into a conflict Trump chose to launch and has chosen to continue, higher gas prices are hurting Americans. Since gas fuels the rest of the economy, that’s raising prices on everything from groceries to plane tickets.
But the war is not the only way Trump’s strongman economics are hurting consumers. His tariffs have invited retaliation from Canada. His interventions in government regulations haven’t led to lower prices on concert tickets. And his attempts to extract political favors from companies have left them scrambling ahead of expected Democratic wins in Congress.
In the end, strongman economics eventually fail both the strongman and the economy. Republicans have long argued that the economy works best when the invisible hand of the market works its magic. Democrats basically agreed, with the addition of a few more institutional guardrails and consumer protections.
Trump’s break with those traditions is costing him politically. But it’s costing the average American even more.
Play
Canada punches back
As promised, Canada responded dollar-for-dollar to Trump’s tariffs on $20 billion in Canadian goods. Many of the levies target products from states where Republicans are in tight races. The decision is not risk-free for Canada’s economy and the retaliatory tariffs could hurt it more than the U.S. Then again, as The New York Times reports, the basis for Trump’s tariffs relies on a never-before-used part of a nearly 100-year-old authority that might not stand up in court, though it appears no one has yet filed suit.
Corporate America remembers Democrats
Companies that cozied up to Trump are now worrying about Democrats regaining control. Many eagerly donated to Trump’s campaign and later his ballroom and stood behind him at his inauguration and at state dinners. Now they’re concerned about subpoenas and Congressional investigations should Democrats win in November and have started to reach across the aisle and even make bigger campaign contributions. Looking at you, Big Tech.
More articles
Charlie Herman
Charlie Herman is coordinating producer for “Money, Power, Politics” on MS NOW.
