Trump aligns with rational White House faction, curbs tariffs to sharpen focus on outmaneuvering China
Musk & Bessent achieve victory over the "burn it all down" faction in the White House.
The White House is calling it The Art of the Deal, while others are all over the place about how it all really went down. While the narrative battle over politically consequential decisions is one thing, the execution and policymaking are really what matter in the grand scheme of things.
The president made the right move Wednesday by pausing the broad-based “Liberation Day” tariffs and focusing his efforts on turning the tide against the Chinese Communist Party.
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President Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Wednesday afternoon:
The markets responded in record-breaking fashion. Prior to Wednesday, the biggest single-day point gain in Nasdaq Composite history occurred in 2022, with a net change of +760. On Wednesday, the Nasdaq closed up 1857 points, an earth-shattering record day.
Clearly, the Scott Bessent + Elon Musk faction in the White House—which pitched the president on an approach involving rational and strategic statecraft—won over the “burn it all down” left-wing coalition led by protectionist ideologue Peter Navarro.
Before Wednesday, Mr. Musk and like-minded, powerful allies outside of the White House deployed significant political capital to convince the president of the merits of a more focused trade strategy, including lowering tariff barriers and providing much-needed relief to businesses of all sizes. These forces won the day over the “Wall Street is not Main Street” faction, which sought to advance class warfare and sow division between Americans.
Of course, there are still a lot of moving parts. Who knows what the coming days, weeks, and months ahead will bring. But for now, the Trump Administration is focused on the right things.
Ideally, President Trump uses the 90 day pause to pursue a series of powerful free trade deals (zero tariffs) between the United States and its allies. Foreign partners should be aware that the deals must also consider removing non-tariff obstacles, not just out of a sense of general fairness, but because these countries know that the president is prioritizing favorable conditions for American businesses.
Additionally, the president and his team have presented themselves with a golden opportunity to turn the screws on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), an incredibly malign actor on the global stage and America’s top geopolitical rival. America is well positioned to isolate China’s trading partners and out compete for business, while achieving another primary objective of weakening China’s grip on manufacturing.
The Trump Administration is creating favorable conditions for American businesses and its trade partners, while simultaneously attempting to freeze out China. These focused and strategic maneuvers are worthy of applause, and for now, the markets are reacting with great approval.
As ever, the moral of the story is: Don't panic.
Correct. Don't panic.
China is the greatest threat -- and they panicked. Nice to see America winning. It's been a long time......