The worst of both worlds on tariffs

[unblock]

1. He's a criminal and tariffs are his protection racket.

He wants to cause damage the same way a mobster might burn down a restaurant and demand money from all the orher restaurant owners not to do the same to them.

The damage makes people pay him to stop, or at least do it to someone else. He loves tariffs because he has all the power to raise or lower them, make specific exceptions based on who gave him money, etc.

Donnie doesn't care about the economy in the aggregate. He only cares about power and money for himself.

Everything he does makes a whole lot more sense once you recognize he's an evil dictator. It's only confusing when you try to think of him as a remotely normal, well-intentioned president.