In the immediate aftermath of President Donald Trump’s decision Wednesday to pause the bulk of tariffs on American trading partners around the world, his sycophants aides rushed to congratulate him.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called it a “successful negotiating strategy. … No one creates leverage for himself like President Trump.”
No one!
Trump White House domestic policy guru Stephen Miller, characteristically, took it even further:
“Greatest”! “Master strategy”! “History”!
It kind of reminds me of this:
Look. I get why the Bessents and Millers of the world do this. Trump likes people who praise him. No amount of hyperbole — greatest! biggest! smartest! best looking! — is too much. Like, you can’t lay it on too thick.
Trump himself operates on that same principle. I still remember that when I was researching my book — you haven’t bought it yet??? — I came across lots of testimonials that Trump was a solid baseball player in high school. He could hit for power — although he didn’t care about much else.
Which is more than lots of people can say! Like, he was a good high school athlete! No question! But that’s not good enough for Trump.
“I was supposed to be a pro baseball player,” he wrote in 2004. “At the New York Military Academy, I was captain of the baseball team. I worked hard like everyone else, but I had good talent.”
He was NEVER “supposed” to be a pro baseball player. Not even close. But he simply can’t avoid taking everything — including something this, well, minor — to the extreme. He didn’t just play baseball well. He could have been a pro.
Again, I understand it. Trump is telling himself a story of his life in which he is the best. Where he is always right. (I mean they sell hats that say this!) Where he is the hero.
And his aides and other hangers-on have learned that the best way to stay close to him is to play into that notion.
But, like, it’s kind of embarrassing/ridiculous, right? Because even if you think that, ultimately, Trump’s tariff gambit will mean a bunch of trade deals that are advantageous for the U.S., it’s very hard to see what happened over the 8 days as some triumphant story of the master deal-maker at work. There are currently NO agreed-upon deals. None.
This is a FREE post. But all of this only works if you are willing to invest in independent journalism. Which is why I hope today is the day you become a paid subscriber to this newsletter. It’s $6 a month or $60 for the year.
Share this post