1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

Analogy for the day. A stone is thrown into a pond. Makes a ripple effect until it dissipates. Trump is that stone. Thrown into the pond that is the world. And the ripple caused by his tariffs won’t dissipate anytime soon. In fact, the ripple effect, instead of dissipating, will increase. Every economist on the planet worth their salt is predicting calamity. The calculations used to concoct tariff rates seem nonsensical. But one thing is absolutely clear and strategic. The tariffs make no economic sense because they aren’t designed as economic policy. The tariffs are simply a new, super dangerous political tool. They are a way to make private industry dependent on the president the same way he has tried to make law firms and universities dependent on him. Industries and companies will need to pledge loyalty to Trump in order to get sanctions relief. That’s the simple, devastating, play for power that we’re watching. We read that “Presidents have no inherent power over tariffs whatsoever.” And that the Constitution gives to Congress, not the president, the power to impose tariffs. But the International Emergency Economic Powers Act allows the president to impose tariffs if he declares a national emergency under the National Emergencies Act, which Trump did, declaring a “national emergency to increase our competitive edge, protect our sovereignty, and strengthen our national and economic security.” Interestingly enough, that same law allows Congress to end such a declaration of emergency, but so far, Republicans have declined to do so. So while we watch Trump impose tariffs on Australia’s remote Heard and McDonald Islands, which are uninhabited except by wildlife like seals and penguins, an absence of tariffs on Russia is notable. That’ll be a separate plan for world domination to come. I expect it’s well underway. Watch this space. Y’all will own this mess. You do own this mess. And you absolutely made this mess. Show us otherwise. Not in words. In actions.