
By Laura Schmitt
Trump is the mastermind of “The Art of the Deal.” Through that lens, his unprecedented use of tariffs is genius. Those in the business of selling panic, aka “Panicans,” claim an “unhinged” Trump is provoking trade wars, economic depression, chaos, and possible actual war. Reality is quite the opposite.
Trump, a Wharton School of Finance graduate and an experienced student of the “school of life,” has spent the last 4 years contemplating the implementation of his long-talked-about tariffs. His tariffs are what 79 million Americans voted for. The pandemic underscored the vulnerability of an America dependent on adversaries for its PPE, pharmaceuticals, computer chips, rare earth minerals, and steel needed for military equipment. Giving China monopolies over needed goods gives them leverage to hold us hostage. At one point, China toyed with cutting off our medicines. Returning manufacturing to America is a national security necessity.