Summary
Trump had to reverse his aggressive tariff rhetoric after CEOs from Walmart, Target, and Home Depot warned of empty shelves and higher prices due to supply chain disruptions.
Investors reacted negatively to his threats against Fed Chair Jerome Powell, prompting a market sell-off.
Trump backtracked, expressing optimism on a China trade deal and now denying plans to fire Powell.
Global markets remain volatile, and the IMF cited Trump’s trade war as a “major negative shock” to global growth.
But it’s the kind of damage they can try to throw a blanket over, so his supporters can deny it. They’ll never go to other countries, or understand the moments when that trust could have helped. They’ll be detached until someone else is in charge (if it happens) then pull the blanket off to blame others. Like the past 40 years. The empty shelves though. That hits now, and people denying it won’t be for long. They won’t survive.
The reverse is also true: Trump/MAGAs took credit for the stock market gains when Trump was first elected, but then blamed Biden for the stock market crash after Trump took office.
Basically MAGAs said that Biden ruined the economy but no one realized until after Trump started running the country. Schrödinger’s Recession, I guess.
Not this time. The damage is hitting magats hard.
But they don’t mind the pain, as long as they think it is hurting people they hate more.