The start of Trump’s second term has been a blur of activity. Each week brings
fresh White House directives, orders and statements. Americans say they like
the energy so far, according to a CBS News poll.
Yet a peril of Trump’s perpetual motion machine is that policies and pronouncements may collide head-on. Fulfilling one could snuff out another.
Trump makes no apologies. Speaking to reporters over the weekend, he said, “I’ll tell you what, this country has made more progress in the last three weeks than it’s made in the last four years, and we’re respected again as a country.” (???)
Trump's policies and pronouncements are at risk of colliding head-on. Fulfilling one could snuff out another.
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A White House official said in an interview Wednesday that policies should be looked at not in isolation but in the aggregate.
“When you take a step back and look at the full picture of what this administration is doing, it’s all complementary," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "When you look at the holistic set of policies here, our agenda very much makes sense.”
Why should a White House official have to say this? To justify this?
There may no economic instrument that Trump likes more than tariffs. He savors the word itself, calling it the “most beautiful” in the language.
In a speech Wednesday in Miami Beach, Florida, Trump previewed a new set of tariffs that are in the works.
"I’m going to be announcing tariffs on cars and semiconductors and chips and pharmaceuticals, drugs and pharmaceuticals and lumber, probably, and some other things over the next month or sooner," he said.