Mr. Trump has blinked on the China tariffs without any confirmation that China blinked before he did which it turns out was false, based upon China’s statements completely denying that any discussions were underway. Is a fake blink better or worse than a real one?
There has been recent polling suggesting that in the percent of Americans who support Mr. Trump’s goal of returning manufacturing to the United States is 80%; but only 25% of those desire to work in manufacturing. Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute have theorized that there will be approximately 3,500,0000 annual factory jobs created over the next 10 years, and only half of them will be filled. One can assume that the 25% of Americans that are interested in working in manufacturing will not be enough even if the goal could be accomplished. It is also important to note that the Chinese have gone robotic in their car factories and other manufacturing, and the US is far behind, and I suspect that if the factories that come back go robotic, Mr. Trump would lose the support of unions since that doesn’t help their members at all.
Mr. Trump claimed that 200 deals on tariffs have been made, but offered no proof, nor could his cabinet offer any proof. My guess, it is simply not true.
Mr. Trump just fired health workers charged with aiding fire fighters with regard to their job-related health issues. Mr. Trump has the back of first responders, well, maybe not so much.
Conservatives have begun an attack on Mr. Trump’s policies using the same logic and legal approach as they did relative to Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden. They are attacking the policies, particularly executive orders that, in their view, are not relying on substantive legal positions, such as being at war, when in fact, there is no war declared, and a lack of congressional authority authorizing these actions. There is one legal action pending now, and experts believe more will follow if the first is successful in its challenge. They also believe that the Supreme Court which upheld the attacks on Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden under this same principal would be forced to address this with regard to Mr. Trump. The headlines, of course, were more dramatic than reality, but the headlines essentially were indicating that this could cause a major disruption to the Trump agenda. In that regard, it is interesting to note, that Mr. Trump dissed the advice of Mr. Johnson and other Republicans to have statutes enacted to support his executive orders. There are a number of reasons for not doing so, including the fact that much of it would not get through the Senate because of the 60 votes necessary to move legislation, and secondarily, from an emotional standpoint, the shock of what Mr. Trump has done over the last several months would be lost in the meanderings of passing legislation.
The tariff circus continues as Mr. Trump says he is going to provide support to farmers, but not to small businesses or others impacted by the tariffs, he may relieve some of the tariffs in the auto industry, and he has relieved some tariffs on the electronics industry, in particular, Apple. This picking of winners and losers is a fascinating concept as Republicans have constantly complained about picking and winners and losers through the use of government money or legislation.
More fascinating tariff news tells us Mr. Trump is liberating workers from manufacturing, as they lose their jobs due to his tariffs. China rolls back retaliatory tariffs on goods they need, otherwise, they stay pat.
The President issued two executive orders directed at former government employees whom he dislikes and wants to have them investigated. According to experts, this is the first time this has ever happened and brings to the fore Mr. Trump’s retribution program where he is proceeding without any evidence of wrongdoing, much less criminal evidence only for the purpose of harassing these individuals.
Mr. Trump threatens Harvard with the loss of its tax-exempt status and the way it is being reported it is as if Mr. Trump can initiate that on his own, although he does have control of the IRS with Commissioners who have been replaced at a torrid pace. There is a well-defined regulatory process which needs to establish that Harvard is not utilizing the income for its educational purposes which is different stand than – I do not like what you are teaching. I doubt the Courts will uphold this.
Scientists recently reported detecting what they believe to be life on a planet 120 light years from earth, which is 705,000,000,000 trillion miles away. We will need to prefect cryogenics or some other form of hibernation to allow anyone to travel there or send a large enough spaceship to allow for reproduction during travel. Nonetheless, it is fascinating and hopefully we are not alone in the universe.
The Secretary of Defense seems to be unable to run his department. He fires people without advising of the reasons and shares highly classified information with his family and friends who have no security clearances.
Massachusetts veterans complain that doctors and other health care workers are disappearing from the VA with the Trump cuts. Will this impact care? Probably. Does Mr. Trump care? Probably not.
Consumer confidence is at its lowest since the pandemic standing at 37.8%.
Promises unkept. The Ukraine War? Still going strong. Food prices? Rising. Economic growth? Slow. Inflation? Stagnant. Deportations? A mixed bag. January 6th? Pardons done. Tariffs are a hodgepodge of actions which are not working out very well.
Bill Owens is a former member of Congress representing the New York 21st, a partner in Stafford, Owens, Piller, Murnane, Kelleher and Trombley in Plattsburgh, NY and a Strategic Advisor at Dentons to Washington, DC.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.