So Trump makes it very clear that he imposes tariffs not for some sort of credible economic reason but for his personal jollies. He imposes tariffs because he likes to.
On the day the Supreme Court ruled against a broad swath of President Trump’s tariffs, he was visibly angry — and determined to enact more tariffs anyway.
“Other alternatives will now be used to replace the ones that the court incorrectly rejected,” he said at a White House press briefing on Feb. 20. “We have alternatives, great alternatives.”
Tariffs are fun, dammit! They’re a perk of the job, like riding around in the presidenty car and flying around in Air Force One and knocking down buildings.
But regardless of the politics, the president is fond of tariffs — he regularly calls tariff his favorite word in stump speeches. Indeed, the president’s criticism of free trade deals such as NAFTA and willingness to entertain protectionist policies instead was part of the populist pitch that initially got him elected in 2016.
Since then, he has shown that he likes the policy in part because it helps him strong-arm other countries into giving concessions on trade deals.
That sentence could have ended at “other countries”. He likes bullying. He loves bullying. He loves bullying individuals, and getting to bully whole countries is his happy place. Bullies love their work.
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