Trump “paused” most of the tariffs for 90 days. I found this on Bluesky:
If I had to guess, I’d say that the tanking bond market scared the shit out of them. But it doesn’t look like this “pause” cured that one. It just makes investment in the U.S. even more precarious.
— Nancy LeTourneau (@nancyletourneau.bsky.social) April 9, 2025 at 4:49 PM
This was not planned. Trump chickened out. Not that I’m sorry. He must be really pissed at China, though, as he’s keeping a 125 percent tariff on China.
Jamelle Bouie has a column at the New York Times that I highly recommend. It was written before the pause, obviously, but it still applies. This is something I’ve been saying too:
There is no grand plan or strategic vision, no matter what his advisers claim — only the impulsive actions of a mad king, untethered from any responsibility to the nation or its people. For as much as the president’s apologists would like us to believe otherwise, Trump’s tariffs are not a policy as we traditionally understand it. What they are is an instantiation of his psyche: a concrete expression of his zero-sum worldview.
The fundamental truth of Donald Trump is that he apparently cannot conceive of any relationship between individuals, peoples or states as anything other than a status game, a competition for dominance. His long history of scams and hostile litigation — not to mention his frequent refusal to pay contractors, lawyers, brokers and other people who were working for him — is evidence enough of the reality that a deal with Trump is less an agreement between equals than an opportunity for Trump to abuse and exploit the other party for his own benefit. For Trump, there is no such thing as a mutually beneficial relationship or a positive-sum outcome. In every interaction, no matter how trivial or insignificant, someone has to win, and someone has to lose. And Trump, as we all know, is a winner.
There is no point looking for a plan or a “why.” He does what he does because it feels good for him at the time. It reverberates well with his ego. That’s all there is to know.
Love the wording, 'Trump blinked.' That's how other countries will see it.
Trump shot himself in the foot, but the US, not Trump, bled. This impacted the ultra-rich bigly. I'm sure he heard about it. The 90 days is a bluff. Trump tried this three times and the damage to the US economy was far greater than the damage to others.
Trump is fantasizing that with tariffs off, under threat of a renewal in 90 days, the world will line up to make deals. "Next time I'm really gonna do it" rings hollow after you back down three times in a row.
I understand that the WH was asked if they would publish a list of the 75 countries who have begged to make a deal. Nope. That's confidential. It looks to me like the world dug in with the threat of reciprocal tariffs. Turns out that was Kryptonite to Trump's Superplan. (Will Trump try in three months to pick off individual countries?)
The damage to the US economy is reduced for three months but it's done. Inflation will return. The question is how bad. Shoppers will pull back and try to hang onto cash. Business absolutely will hang back on investments in the US. There's no certainly. Corporate projections will be more cautious. That might mean layoffs. The question is how much.
Trump thinks it's a reality show. So he will introduce a new and entertaining plot twist.
Stay tuned for the next exciting episode.
Others are speculating that all of this is (also?) stock market manipulation. TariffMan™ enacts the tariffs, stocks crash, the mega-wealthy buy in, he pauses tariffs, stocks rebound, the mega-wealthy cash in, all with the help of insider trading. I'd say that this needs to be investigated, but with Congress and all of the relevant agencies in his back pocket, who's actually gonna do it?
I dunno, market manipulation, yes, but I do not think that the demented mango man had a plan for it,… he is just wingin' it. I suspect that his cronies were freaked out by his stupidity and, instead of being able or courageous enough to reason with him, convinced him that he could make a ton of money off of market manipulation, quick like, and his orange greed told him to make a quick buck and take the cash now option.
Everyone without an invite to Mar-a-grifto are the marks and the congreesscritters are looking for an invite so they will grovel for a seat by enabling the crime wave. The cult is in the bezzle and will party like its 1899 until they are given the green light to just outright steal your stuff to keep their party going.
Adam Schiff called on Congress to investigate. Doesn't seem likely they will, but at least someone is trying. My one objection to your comment is that I doubt all the "ultra rich" were in on this, just Trump insiders. The pause was not planned. The selloff of U.S. Treasuries spooked them.
Yeah, I do talk out my wazoo a lot, but I also know that the mango men are opportunistic gangsters and I figure you gotta be a made man to get the inside scoop. And sometimes mango man screws the pooch, so I do speculate.
However, sometimes the vibes I get are a little coherent, here's one that I speculated about a month ago or so…
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/greenland-freedom-city-rich-donors-push-trump-tech-hub-up-north-2025-04-10/
And, Insiders got a tip:
https://bsky.app/profile/onestpress.bsky.social/post/3lmgktsrvqs23
What we have just witnessed (and will continue to witness) is precisely why he became a pariah as a "business man" in greater NYC. No one will do business with him in NYC.
As long as he is in the White House, our country will be a pariah among the nations of the world. This is the only thing he is competent at: being a pariah.
China holds 750 Billion in bonds. That's #2 behind Japan at 1 trillion. I'm not sure the war with China is a great idea.
Ruth Ben-Ghiat, in Autocratic Backfire
It's my belief that this fast rate of capture also means the end can come sooner. It shouldn't take decades as with other regimes.
I've read that China's retaliatory tariffs specifically target red states, F47's base. I've also read that governors from various red states, from Virginia to Louisiana are able to get disaster relief funds. Good luck to California for their next big fire or earthquake.
Time to replace "The United States of America" with "The Disunited States of Trump's Moods".
The Ten Year US Treasury Note is presently yielding 4.549%.
What else do you need to know?
Dis UNITED and Dis FUNCTIONAL with #s to prove it.
Just a note kind of worth adding for some, and way too in the weeds for others, but what else do we measure to five significant figures beyond the decimal point? Not that we can't but it is most likely superfluous, asinine, pompous, inane, and… Interest rate on the US 10 year note is quite the exception.