Trump's Tariff Madness Has To Stop

Ian Haworth
Tue, 20 Jan 2026 12:25:11 -0800
Opinion

Since the beginning of the second Trump administration, it's become obvious that the president loves tariffs. In fact, he really, really loves tariffs. To paraphrase 50 Cent, Donald Trump loves tariffs like a fat kid loves cake.

One year into his second term, we've witnessed Trump unleash wave after wave of tariffs on anything with a pulse, leaving his administration and his supporters scrambling to argue in favor of some sort of retrospective strategy that justifies setting the world economy on fire.

We have simultaneously been told that tariffs are great, and that they will reduce our national debt, replace income taxes and/or make us all rich; that tariffs are bad because other countries force them upon us so they deserve it, and/or tariffs are bad so threatening tariffs is part of a really effective bargaining tactic; that other countries will pay for tariffs so what are you even worrying about; that tariffs will make everything cheaper; or that tariffs will find their way back to us in the form of Biden-style stimulus checks.
Updated: Tue Jan 20, 2026

Since the beginning of the second Trump administration, it's become obvious that the president loves tariffs. In fact, he really, really loves tariffs. To paraphrase 50 Cent, Donald Trump loves tariffs like a fat kid loves cake.

One year into his second term, we've witnessed Trump unleash wave after wave of tariffs on anything with a pulse, leaving his administration and his supporters scrambling to argue in favor of some sort of retrospective strategy that justifies setting the world economy on fire.

We have simultaneously been told that tariffs are great, and that they will reduce our national debt, replace income taxes and/or make us all rich; that tariffs are bad because other countries force them upon us so they deserve it, and/or tariffs are bad so threatening tariffs is part of a really effective bargaining tactic; that other countries will pay for tariffs so what are you even worrying about; that tariffs will make everything cheaper; or that tariffs will find their way back to us in the form of Biden-style stimulus checks.

Yes, all of these arguments — and so many more — are nonsensical acts of economic lunacy, but plenty has been said about that already, and to little effect.

No, at this stage, there are two things we need to hammer home. First, Trump doesn't care about the reality of tariffs. He likes them solely because they give him — likely unconstitutional — power to strong-arm anyone on the planet into bowing to his will. There is no deep economic plan here. It's just a bullying tactic, and we should really stop lying to ourselves and pretending otherwise.

Second, this has to stop.

I know that Trump's online-troll game sparks joy among a section of his base, but for me and millions more, seeing the man holding the same office as historic titans such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln act like a teenager having a colossal tantrum is, to put it mildly, unbecoming.

For example, the latest chapter in this tariffs-everywhere saga is Trump's decision to threaten France — yet another our ally Trump apparently despises — with 200% tariffs on wine and champagne if President Emmanuel Macron refuses to join his "Board of Peace" to oversee the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the rebuilding of Gaza.

Look, Trump's foreign policy in the context of Israel and Hamas has been mostly excellent, and the establishment of some sort of international board of oversight for any post-war scenario is a reasonable notion. If France — predictably under the boot of its radical Muslim population who would rather see French support behind the genocidal regime of Hamas — refuses to get on board with American plans, then that teaches us something about their priorities. But for Trump to use the office of the presidency, and his ridiculous belief that he has control over tariff policy, to punish anyone who dares oppose him is beneath the office he holds and the nation he represents.

Sure, France is insane politically, and Paris is the most underwhelming, smelly and rude city in the world, but we don't need Trump threatening more economic chaos to remind us of that. Sometimes, rising above the fray with dignity holds far more power than any other option. Unfortunately, we have a president who can't wait to get down and dirty in the gutter, dragging us down with him.