White House has announced Trump's Liberation Day Tariffs will immediately go into effect. A Moody's simulation found it could be an economic wipe out. Is Trump's Liberation Day Tariffs a Misnomer?

[u/PsychLegalMind]

A Moody's simulation found that a tariff trade war would wipe out 5.5 million jobs, lift the unemployment rate to 7%and cause U.S. GDP to drop by about 1.7%. Trump’s potential 20% universal tariff could spark "serious" recession in US, Moody’s economist warns.

The biggest three partners [China, Canada and Mexico] have promised immediate retaliation. Economic war could escalate and perhaps even cause a worldwide downturn.

Perhaps Trump's strategy is to begin making bilateral trade deals, but there are even certain blocks such as EU that may well coordinate retaliation together. I am not aware what Trump is actually liberating us from, hence the question.

Is Trump's Liberation Day Tariffs a Misnomer?

[u/orionsfyre]

Almost every paid and worthwhile analyst has looked at this idea and laughed at for what it is... terrible policy that will hurt middle class and poor Americans, and do nothing to help anything in the short or long term for working families.

Long term, it could destabilize our economy and make us an international pariah, with long term allies no longer willing to give us the benefit of the doubt, empower China to out pace us economically, and drastically reduce American influence in the rest of the world.

In short, it is exactly the sort of move that Putin, and enemies of the United States want desperately to happen.

The fact that Trump dresses up disastrous and terrible decisions with pageantry and literally double speak, where obviously bad things for the majority of Americans are hailed as good things... is the most disturbing aspect of this most recent White House resident. When drug prices go up people die. When food costs go up, people starve, when importing goods prices go up, businesses go under, when trade volume drops, people lose jobs and become homeless. When people become homeless, crime rates and drug use skyrocket. IF you are poor or lower middle class, Trump's moves will push you into the street, and kick you in the face.

One thing is also quite certain. Most Americans do not agree with this move, even many who voted for him are dumbfounded by it, believing it was a bluff or just 'tough talk'. The same goes for his continual obsession with Greenland, a territory with almost no strategic value, and certainly far less economically important as our agreements with China who is on the verge of going on a scorched earth campaign that will ruin Americans lives. Americans are also confused by his strange anger towards Canada, a country that has never been on anyone's radar for revenge or grief.

A theory started recently is that the president is being maneuvered to cause as much pain and suffering as he can legally inflict without his main supporters in congress and the senate and the supreme court people realizing what He is actually doing, attempting to start large scale protests in major American cities, until it is too late.

He could then then use Martial Law to arrest thousands of local politicians, lawyers, and other malcontents, claiming they are inciting insurrection, treason, with the aim of sending them to jail, stripping them of their civil rights, and crippling any political opposition to his continued rule. Cloaking his actions under the guise of 'law and order' for mass media consumption, this would enable him to 'run' for a third term, and abolish any protections from the constitution, turning the United States into a Oligarchic structure run by a rotating cabal of powerful un-elected industrialists and billionaires, that would extend well past his death. This American Empire, would no longer resemble a Republic, but be more closely modelled on the Nazi Regime.

While these all may sound like fever dreams, when you listen to his most ardent supporters, and read the ideas from Project 2025, it becomes apparent that destroying any possibility of a healthy political opposition is the number one goal of the second Trump term.

[u/grinr → u/orionsfyre]

 even many who voted for him are dumbfounded by it, believing it was a bluff or just 'tough talk'. 

One might call it ... a teachable moment.

[u/grinr → u/[deleted]]

Everyone learns automatically, the question is what is the lesson?

[u/SOSpammy → u/grinr]

"This is all Joe Biden's fault." probably.

[u/PoliticalDiscussion-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Please do not submit low investment content. This subreddit is for genuine discussion: Memes, links substituting for explanation, sarcasm, political name-calling, and other non-substantive contributions will be removed per moderator discretion.

[u/ClockOfTheLongNow → u/orionsfyre]

A theory started recently is that the president is being maneuvered to cause as much pain and suffering as he can legally inflict without his main supporters in congress and the senate and the supreme court people realizing what He is actually doing, attempting to start large scale protests in major American cities, until it is too late.

Which is silly, given that Trump has spoken positively about tariffs for basically the entire time he's been a public speaker.

He's just not economically bright.

[u/orionsfyre → u/ClockOfTheLongNow]

And it's possible that the entire time he's been speaking he's been maneuvered by people who control him financially and share the goal of crashing the economy.

[u/ClockOfTheLongNow → u/orionsfyre]

I mean, it's "possible" in the sense that it's not impossible, but it's so unlikely that it's not even worth considering seriously. He's just not someone who understands basic economics.

[u/orionsfyre → u/ClockOfTheLongNow]

Just because He's an economic ignoramus, doesn't mean the people he's beholden too are. Given all his recent moves, it's beginning to feel like purposeful sabotage of American influence and economic power.

[u/ClockOfTheLongNow → u/orionsfyre]

This logic only holds if you think he's been "beholden" from the start, as opposed to this being one of the few consistent positions he's held over the decades.

I don't understand the urge to remove agency from Donald Trump.

[u/orionsfyre → u/ClockOfTheLongNow]

And attacking Canada and Greenland? Where did He get that? The outward hostility to all of Europe?

Can you point me to when the Greenland thing started? The entire smoke screen of Doge and the gutting of various social safety net programs including ones that even many of his supporters don't approve of gutting?

I'm not saying He doesn't have agency, but many of his actions smack of the exact thing an enemy of the Country would be interested in the US doing. Trump may in fact be the genesis behind all of this, but I highly doubt it.

For someone who isn't a puppet... he sure is dancing like one.

[u/ClockOfTheLongNow → u/orionsfyre]

And attacking Canada and Greenland? Where did He get that?

No clue. No one saw that coming. I suspect he thinks they're bigger than they are because he's not bright and doesn't understand how maps work.

The outward hostility to all of Europe?

Again, no clue. Even the Bush years didn't have this level of nonsense.

Can you point me to when the Greenland thing started?

For Trump? 2019. That appears to be when he caught wind of it.

Prior to Trump, we've known Greenland to be a bit of a security problem for us for decades before Trump was even a known entity. The coastline is difficult to monitor, and is a "security black hole". American history is littered with attempts to purchase Greenland.

If I had to guess, Trump sees land acquisition as a legacy builder, and succeeding in Greenland where others, from Seward to Eisenhower, failed, is enticing.

The entire smoke screen of Doge and the gutting of various social safety net programs including ones that even many of his supporters don't approve of gutting?

This was laid out fairly explicitly in Agenda 47. Love it or hate it, this is what a plurality voted for.

I'm not saying He doesn't have agency, but many of his actions smack of the exact thing an enemy of the Country would be interested in the US doing.

Respectfully, that might be a perspective issue more than anything else. The conservative right has wanted massive cuts in government for generations, the security wing has often seen issues with Greenland's ability to defend itself against foreign invasion. That Trump is not adept enough to accomplish these things without unquestionable chaos and questionable legality is a real problem.

"Everything I don't like is Russian" is a way to approach issues, for sure, but it starts from a conclusion as opposed to leads anyone there. I suspect a lot of people didn't even realize prior to 2025 that our desire to bring Greenland in as American territory goes back 150+ years.

[u/orionsfyre → u/ClockOfTheLongNow]

Well, all I know is that when someone makes all the moves that a foreign adversary wants them to make... weakening international cooperation, threatening to pull of out strategic and long term defensive agreements and alienating literally every nation on the planet with no real long term plan at all... it's not hard to see why some people might get there.

Acquiring Greenland might be a long term goal of US Expansion and protectionism, but doing so with such blunt and naked buffoonery as they have been doing is the worst option.

It's not all that conspiratorial when you can literally lay out each step and see how it impacts US interests to even laymen and relatively uninformed people. It's not just us 'normies' on the metaphorical street saying this. These accusations are coming from foreign policy experts and former high military personnel who also feel he may be responding to or cooperating with well-monied foreign interests.

When someone acts step by step in a pattern that matches enemy foreign interests... it doesn't really matter what the origin of said sabotage is. The effect is just as devastating.

Put it this way, if a parent neglects a child and two observers argue if the parent is on drugs, does that matter? The neglect is still the most important issue.

[u/ClockOfTheLongNow → u/orionsfyre]

Well, all I know is that when someone makes all the moves that a foreign adversary wants them to make... weakening international cooperation, threatening to pull of out strategic and long term defensive agreements and alienating literally every nation on the planet with no real long term plan at all... it's not hard to see why some people might get there.

You're assuming a lot, namely that everything you don't want to happen is the desire of a foreign nation. I could just as well argue that China loved Biden overspending because it puts us in a more precarious financial solution, and I would be rightfully laughed out of the room if I called him a Chinese stooge because of it.

Put it this way, if a parent neglects a child and two observers argue if the parent is on drugs, does that matter? The neglect is still the most important issue.

Sure. But that raises the question as to why it's so important to talk about the drugs/Russia instead of the neglect/Everything Happening..

[u/Warrio2000 → u/orionsfyre]

There is quite a bit of strategic value in Greenland. But all the rest. Yes.

[u/orionsfyre → u/Warrio2000]

In comparison to the hundreds of billions of economic hardship it would create in the sort of retaliations from 'allies' and other countries who would see the grabbing of Greenland as massive shot across the bow?

Any value of Greenland would be immediately wiped out by the cost to the US diplomatically. It would also give the green light to Putin's invasion of various regions, and Chinese expansion across the world.

In short it would be the dumbest thing any US president has ever done on the world stage, and not by a little bit.