Public Comment

Tweets, Tariffs & Turmoil

Tejinder Uberoi
Friday August 30, 2019 - 04:28:00 PM

It is becoming increasingly apparent to many Americans that Donald Trump is becoming more and more delusional. His bizarre tweets have little to do with market stability and everything to do with trying to project a “tough guy” persona. The wild gyrations of the market are a direct reflection of his trade wars with China which show no signs of abating. President Xi Jinping is unlikely to back down and appear weak to his domestic audience especially given the increasing turmoil in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, Trump has flip/flopped repeatedly unable to cobble together a coherent policy. In a rare of truth he admitted having second thoughts about his trade policy but then abruptly changed his mind promising more punishing tariffs. 

Meanwhile Democrats have seized the opportunity and hammered his trade policy which is rooted in pure vindictiveness and anger.  

At the G7 meeting world leaders, with the exception of Prime Minister of Britain, Boris Johnson, shunned Trump uncomfortable with his unpredictable behavior. 

His relationship to world leaders follows a familiar pattern. Great admiration (Kim Jon Un of North Korea, President Macron of France, Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada, Teresa May of Britain, . .) quickly followed by harsh criticism. Apocalyptic with China’s response to his tariff wars, he ordered all U.S. companies to leave China citing an obscure law, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977.  

The law’s original intent was to isolate companies engaged in criminal activities not break economic ties with a major trading partner over a tariff dispute. Recently, the thin skinned Trump has ordered his staff to “dig dirt” and shame reporters critical of his policies, hallmark of an autocratic ruler.  

Medical professionals are expressing major concerns over Trump’s declining mental state summarized in the New York Times best seller, by Dr. Brady Lee “The dangerous case of Donald Trump.”