Trump Thread

[Montmorency]

I have a Comm PhD. I assure you that I believe that rhetoric matters and that it is serious; these tariff disputes will have a significant impact. I hadn't realized we were past the start dates on those yet -- crazy schedule this last month for me.

My basic point is that Trump is assuming we can take the pain better than our "opponents" in these disputes and that they will cave before we do. I am NOT certain he is factoring things correctly in this.

Alright, how about this hypothesis: To the extent Trump or the admin have considered the costs to the US, they think it can be sublimated into an increasingly-authoritarian rhetoric that actually galvanizes the base - even as trade disruption directly impacts large swathes of Trump land.

By now we've seen Trump supporters respond to a different type of logic and discourse, so it may even be a good bet that economic pain will drive them toward Trump, just as his incompetence and vulgarity and the contrition of his enemies have.