Like him or not, you can’t deny that Donald Trump thinks big. All his ideas are huge, beautiful, unbelievable, fantastic.
“I have the best words,” he once claimed, and he’s probably right.
I’ve been trying to guess what he will call the trade war he plans to launch any day now.
Speaking to reporters last week, the president said China is “dumping steel and destroying our steel industry. They’ve been doing it for decades, and I’m stopping it.”
Notice the alliteration? Dumping, destroying, doing, decades. Nicely done.
In that spirit, I propose to name the collection of forthcoming tariffs and quotas, “Trump’s Terrific Trade Tempest.”
This conflict won’t end with steel, nor will it be quick. Other governments will fire back. They’re already taking aim.
Loving Loopholes
Last summer at the Camp Kotok economics retreat, I met a man who has done business with the Trump Organization and with Trump himself. The event’s ground rules prevent me from telling you his name, but I can tell you what he said.
My source said Trump scrupulously followed the law in all their deals. He also said Trump would often insert innocent-looking contract clauses that later harmed the other side.