[vesinisa]

Maybe Trump is just doing what's good for America and he's strategy is exactly being unpredictable and chaotic. This is stressful for others and they make political concessions to please him in exchange for a period of stability.

EU for example bulged for exactly this reason and accepted 15% one-way tariff for access to US market. Before the deal the uncertainty about the level of coming tariffs was deemed worse for European companies trading to US than the negotiated tariff itself.

European political leaders including the head of NATO have also practically turned to giving rimjobs to Trump's ass wishing he would not throw tantrums at them in important meetings: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c17wejpw79qo

Ultimately this all just strengthens US hegemony and makes other countries weaker, which is the explicitly stated goal he keeps repeating..

[jleyank]

Perhaps, although I can't see the point in damaging the American economy or currency. More likely, he's only talking to his proctologist and posting what they decide.

Throwing away 80+ years of mostly-Republican soft power and foreign policy seems foolish. Making it difficult to ship or sell to the US only makes sense if they want to detach from the world's economic system. They're welcome to try to be Tibet, but folks might find it difficult to get what they want. And losing the reserve-currency status for the USD will hurt. So will being unable to (easily) sell debt.

[crusty]

I'm guessing you meant Bhutan — Tibet is/occupied/governed by China.

[jleyank]

Sorry. I might have meant Nepal. One of those small countries, I thought, are self-isolating. Thanks for the correction re: Tibet.

[AlecSchueler]

Everything you listed are reasons why half world is scrambling to disentangle itself from American hegemony.

[vesinisa]

But is that really happening? If that was actually true, Trump would obviously have no leg to stand on. But what we have seen instead is exactly the opposite - countries are scrambling to strike "trade deals" with Trump no matter how terrible terms they get (like the one-way 15% tariff EU "achieved".)

There is really no downside at all for Trump. If it actually starts hurting US economy at any point, he can easily just signal reversing the policy and everyone will let out a big sigh of relief and markets rebound. If it causes some long-term harm for US, he will be long gone by then. But if he is succesful in establishing a new US-first world order he will be forever remembered as one of the greatest American presidents in history.

[AlecSchueler]

Yes, it is happening, in both business and political spheres. You're maybe making the mistake of looking only at the very short term while forgetting how entrenched these systems are. There can't be overnight changes, right now the world has is forced to "play along."

I'm not sure where to start with giving you sources for actions being taken because it seems that you want things to have already changed before you believe it. You've surely read any the strengthening of intra-EU defence arrangements? Things like that mean that in the future the US won't be able to bully for leverage like they are today. It's short term versus long term thinking.

Also not sure what "actually starts hurting" the economy means. Is the hurt that's been caused so far not actual hurt? No true Scotsman economics.

[vesinisa]

Surely the S&P 500 index regularly closing at all-time-high levels while this "hurting" was unfolding is a valid counterpoint?

Meanwhile, all European stock indices continue to underperform their American counterparts. The return on STOXX Europe 600 index over the past 10 years has been about 58%. The S&P 500 in this same period returned 237%, and more importantly has continued to outperform STOXX Europe 600 throuhgout 2025. Surely investors would be abandoning the US stock market like rats on a sinking ship if Trump was wrecking the US economy?

> Things like that mean that in the future the US won't be able to bully for leverage like they are today.

I would fully applaud this, if it actually does happen. But so far European defence co-operation has been and continues to be weak and incoherent. It is most blatantly apparent in how Hungary and now Slovakia have been able to derail EU-level co-operation in supporting Ukraine.

However I must admit the recent €600 Billion defence package is one rare step to seemingly right direction.

[AlecSchueler]

> Surely the S&P 500 index regularly closing at all-time-high levels while this "hurting" was unfolding is a valid counterpoint?

If you presuppose that the markets are both rational and moral then maybe. But when the president of the US is using his personal social media website to tell people when to buy and sell before he rolls the dice it becomes difficult to take this point seriously.

> But so far European defence co-operation has been and continues to be weak and incoherent.

That's exactly the point, there are now more meetings than ever about resolving these issues because the old hegemony can no longer be relied on, Denmark is having to ask repeatedly for clarifications on the constant threats to invade Greenland... Again, you're expecting things to change overnight when policy changes at this level take years to implement.

> It is most blatantly apparent in how Hungary and now Slovakia have been able to derail EU-level co-operation in supporting Ukraine.

Is it? That doesn't seem to have any bearing at all on the topic at hand. Just because Hungary has gone rogue at the behest of mother Russia doesn't in any way suggest the rest of the EU aren't turning away from the US.

> However I must admit the recent €600 Billion defence package is one rare step to seemingly right direction.

Yes, you could even say it's evidence of the move towards more cohesion in the future following events which only took place several months ago...

[judahmeek]

The disentangling will be gradual & organic. It'll be the fear that the U.S. can shut down weapons they have sold that are used without the U.S.'s explicit permission. It'll be the fact that Trump raises tariffs over tech regulation & internal criminal cases. It'll be because few will consider the U.S. a reliable partner for trade & military support. It'll be because the U.S.'s own tariffs will raise the prices of American products & services to uncompetitive levels and what American brands don't suffer from such inflation will still suffer from association with the U.S. itself.

Trump does have additional leverage in the fact that the dollar is the global reserve currency, but he's actively testing how much friction he can introduce into the global trade system before that changes.

On that note, it's interesting that every country Trump has targeted for higher tariffs (China, Brazil, India) is a member of BRICS.

[philistine]

What do you make of the bold faced lie that the external country is paying the tariffs that Trump is putting in place? Part of the same desire for maximum chaos? When does chaos stop?

[XajniN]

It's not a bold faced lie, it's a relative truth. An importer needs to pay the tariff upfront, before pushing the increased price to the final consumer. This has an immediate effect on the exporter.

[stouset]

The amount of mental gymnastics y’all seem to constantly have to do to try and find some way to make sense of the inherently nonsensical looks exhausting.

[Yeul]

Ah the fuhrer knows what he is doing and we should al have faith in his genius defence?

[jrochkind1]

It seems pretty stressful for Americans as well. I guess we too are being asked to make concessions for a period of stability... that doesn't sound great. Maybe the trains will run on time if we make enough concessions.

[duxup]

> Maybe Trump is just doing what's good for America and he's strategy is exactly being unpredictable and chaotic.

I haven’t seen an explanation of how this works as far as the current tariff methodology goes.

[michaelhoney]

It really doesn't strengthen the US. Everyone knows Trump is a senile fool and placating him is the less-bad option until he dies.

[IAmBroom]

You make the preposterous claim that "what's good for America" is increasing its hegemony at the cost of other nations.

What's good for America is protecting her people's liberties and increasing their satisfaction in life. The first is clearly going downhill; Trump's plummeting popularity amongst his followers suggests the second is, as well.

[pschastain]

Or maybe Trump is a sociopath felon with a penchant for young girls who is acting solely in his own self-interest

Given his history of failed businesses and association with a known pedophile, what seems more likely?

[ethbr1]

How are the tariffs even in his own self-interest? Insider trading?

[SpicyLemonZest]

They're in his self-interest because he can, and did, turn around and convince people to bribe him for exemptions and reductions. I recognize this sounds crazy when I say it, but you can literally look up the video - Tim Cook gave him a big block of gold on public TV to get iPhones exempted from tariffs on India.

[ethbr1]

On the magnitude being insinuated, that doesn't even blip. 50 lbs of solid gold is what, $2.5M?

[SpicyLemonZest]

I don't know what you mean by "blip". Business leaders shouldn't gift government officials any amount of solid gold.

[9dev]

Let alone a jet plane.

That this even needs saying is mindbogging

[defrost]

Consider that a mere act of public theatre in which a token is exchanged.

Getting a grip on the magnitude of the Trump family profiteering through all the obfuscation and destruction of record keeping practices is an ongoing challenge in reporting.

* https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/08/18/the-number

( Summary of the long form article above:

  At the end of Trump’s first term, CREW calculated that Trump made more than $1.6 billion in outside revenue and income during his four years as president. Recently, however, The New Yorker staff writer David D. Kirkpatrick tallied up a new number, encompassing ventures from both Trump’s first and second terms: $3.4 billion. 

~ https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-family-thr... )

[ethbr1]

Great links! I expect post-presidency investigations will turn up a lot more favorable trades from his web of associates.

Even if Trump doesn't need to put his hand in the cookie jar so obviously, many around him aren't as disciplined or experienced in obsfuscating policy-based trading.

[ModernMech]

$2.5M is not a blip, it's a bribe by any measure. We need to call things what they are. Trump has done worse for less.

Anyway, the $2.5M isn't the point, it's bending someone like Tim Cook to your will so that they would just give it to you and thank you while bending over. To some degree, he's now directing Apple Inc, since he can get Tim Cook to act according to his will.

How much is that worth to Trump?

[ethbr1]

The opposite is also true.

Does $2.5M matter to Apple?

No. They probably lose that much between rows in their spreadsheets.

So, if it's not material to Apple's finances, what does giving it to Trump mean? Symbolic gestures are symbolic, but you haven't bent someone to your will until you've made them give you something that hurts.

[GLjEI4YbnGD27LB]

I had thought that tariff revenue goes directly to the executive branch for the president to spend without congressional oversight, but actually this is not correct.

In reality, all federal revenue - whether from income taxes, tariffs, or any other source - flows into the U.S. Treasury and becomes part of the general fund. Tariff money doesn't create a separate pool of funds that the president can spend at will. Just like with tax revenue, any spending of tariff proceeds requires congressional appropriation through the normal budget process. The executive branch cannot spend money that Congress hasn't specifically authorized, regardless of the revenue source.

[vesinisa]

The goal of tariffs is to strengthen your own domestic manufacturing economy. Under high tariff regime, domestic manufacturing gets a pricing advantage over imported goods. The best scenario is if you can get other countries to not place reciprocal tariffs on your goods - meaning foreign companies are disadvantaged in your home market but your companies have uninhibited access to the consumers abroad.

[deanishe]

He collected a literal bar of gold (with some glass stuck in it) from Tim Cook a couple of weeks ago.

[cutemonster]

He likes flattery too, and this helps him get more of that.

Although I don't think that's the direct reason. But feeling powerful by using his power maybe can be a direct reason for this behavior?

[ZeroGravitas]

Yes, he gets full power to do this without Congress meddling as long as there is an emergency. Or he lies, in an inconsistent and unconvincing manner, about there being an emergency and everyone just accepts it.

[AlecSchueler]

Well too be fair he has a history now of posting when to buy and sell on his social media website before he makes the tariff announcements so it certainly seems that way.