Trump caves again in devastating admission - Brian Tyler Cohen

[TexasTowelie]

Transcript:

well it took less than a month for
Donald Trump's big bold China strategy
to completely fall apart After weeks of
chest thumping and grandiose promises
about how China would come begging to
the negotiating table Trump is already
signaling retreat with his latest truth
social post writing quote "80% tariff on
China seems right up to Scott B." So
let's break down exactly why this is
such a stunning reversal from a
president who just weeks ago imposed a
145% tariff on Chinese imports and swore
that he would never back down until
China capitulated The reality is that
Donald Trump promised he had all the
leverage He promised China would buckle
under the pressure of his tariffs He
promised American manufacturing would
come roaring back But none of that's
happened Instead we are seeing the
predictable consequences of Donald
Trump's reckless trade war market
volatility higher prices for American
consumers and absolutely zero
concessions from China Remember when
Trump says and I'm directly quoting here
"At some point hopefully in the near
future China will realize that the days
of ripping off the USA and other
countries are no longer sustainable or
acceptable." Well that near future
apparently hasn't arrived because China
hasn't budged an inch They've responded
with their own retaliatory tariffs and
shown no interest whatsoever in making
the kind of deal that Donald Trump
promised would be easy to get But hey
art of the deal am I right so what
happened to all that leverage Trump
claimed to have what happened to making
China bend the knee the truth is that
Donald Trump never had the leverage that
he claimed he had China is our third
largest trading partner They hold over
$800 billion in US debt They manufacture
critical goods that we simply don't have
the capacity to produce domestically at
least not in the short term And that is
the fundamental flaw in Trump's entire
tariff strategy He can't just wish a
manufacturing infrastructure into
existence overnight Building factories
training workers establishing supply
chains These things take years if not
decades And while we wait for that
fantasy manufacturing renaissance
American consumers are paying the price
Let's be crystal clear about something
here Tariffs are taxes paid by American
importers not by China Those costs get
passed on to American consumers in the
form of higher prices An analysis by the
Tax Foundation found that Donald Trump's
tariffs amount to an average tax
increase of nearly $1,300 per US
household in 2025 alone And what do
Americans get in return for that 1,300
bucks nothing We are all pawns in
Trump's delusions of grandeur and chest
beating We suffer so that Trump can
learn the lessons of freshman level
economics The most telling part of
Trump's post though that would be the up
to Scott B part Trump is clearly trying
to distance himself from the inevitable
climb down that's coming He's setting up
Scott Besson to take the fall when the
145% tariffs prove exactly as
unsustainable as we know they are And
the White House is forced to lower them
even further And this is classic Trump
Take credit for everything good blame
others for everything bad When the
markets rallied briefly after his tariff
pause announcement meaning he relented
on his own policy Trump was quick to
post "What a day but more great days
coming." But now that it's becoming
clear that his China strategy is failing
suddenly it's up to Scott B I mean just
listen to what he said days ago when it
comes to accepting praise for victories
and diffusing responsibility for defeat
When does it become the Trump economy uh
it partially is right now and I really
mean this I think the good parts are the
Trump economy and the bad parts of the
Biden economy because he's done a
terrible job He did a terrible job on
everything This is the Roy Con School of
Management Always take the credit Never
take the blame The United States of
America is being led by someone who has
the mentality of a seven-year-old on a
playground And remember the bizarre spin
his administration tried to put on his
previous tariff reversal Treasury
Secretary Scott Besson actually claimed
with a straight face that Trump's abrupt
decision to pause most of his tariffs
was his strategy all along As if the
market meltdown that wiped out trillions
in value had nothing to do with it As if
Trump hadn't spent days insisting that
he would never back down I mean I'm
sorry but just listen to this nonsense
That's okay He's fine with no deal So
that I like that personally I think it's
great and brilliant but Wall Street your
old friends hate it They hate that kind
of uncertainty What do you say to them
tonight given President Trump's comments
about "Well we don't have a deal We
don't have a deal We'll survive." Well
Laura it's in game theory it's called
strategic uncertainty what you're
talking about Nobody does it better than
President Trump And it can be unsettling
for the markets But why why are they
unsettled because they have a lack of
information You know I have President
Trump has asymmetric information for
what he's willing to do We don't
disclose it And again with President
Trump that the strategic uncertainty
will make sure that we get the best deal
possible Oh yes Masterful gambit sir Yes
All you plebs what you don't know is
that Donald Trump bumbling around like a
drunken frat guy looking for his keys in
a dark closet is actually all by design
Art of the deal The reality is that
Donald Trump's trade war with China is
following the exact same playbook as his
first term Big bold announcements tough
talk about how easy it's going to be to
win And then when reality sets in and
the economic pain becomes too much to
bear a quiet retreat disguised as
strategic master stroke The victims as
always are American consumers and
American businesses The average American
family is going to pay higher prices for
everything from clothing to electronics
to appliances American companies that
rely on Chinese components will face
higher costs and supply chain
disruptions American farmers who've been
targeted by China's retaliatory tariffs
will lose critical export markets And
for what china isn't going to
fundamentally restructure its economy
because of Trump's tariffs They're not
going to abandon their manufacturing
advantages including lower wages fewer
regulations and enormous production
capacity that took decades to build And
let's be clear that pain is here
According to CNBC the first Chinese
goods subject to President Trump's 145%
plus tariffs have begun arriving in the
busiest ports in the US in Los Angeles
and Long Beach 12,000 shipping
containers in all are on the first
flotilla of freight vessels from China
with goods for Amazon Home Depot IKEA
Ralph Lauren Tractor Supply Proctor and
Gamble LG and Samsung among others That
means prices on all of those goods will
rise Those companies will not eat those
costs We will Americans Donald Trump's
tariffs are a tax on us for no reason at
all So when you see Trump floating a
lower 80% tariff rate and deferring to
his Treasury Secretary recognize it for
what it is It is the beginning of an
inevitable retreat from an unsustainable
position Trump knows his 145% tariffs
are hurting Americans more than they're
hurting China and he's looking for a way
to save face as he backs down The
saddest part here is that there are real
issues with China that do need to be
addressed Intellectual property theft
unfair trade practices and more But
instead of building an international
coalition to actually confront China
Donald Trump alienated our allies with
this America first approach Instead of
strategic targeted measures he opted for
blunt acrosstheboard tariffs that hurt
Americans as much as they hurt China And
now just a few weeks into his second
term his grand strategy is already
crumbling 80% seems right up to Scott B
isn't a position of strength It is a
concession wrapped in bravado It's an
admission that his current strategy is
unsustainable It is the first step in
what will invariably be a set of
retreats until Donald Trump inevitably
declares victory on whatever deal he can
get even if it accomplishes nothing
That's the Trump playbook Make big
promises fail to deliver and then
convince his supporters that failure was
actually success all along And
unfortunately for all of us American
consumers will be footing the bill for
his latest economic
misadventure.