On Friday morning, for reasons that still aren’t clear, Donald Trump published an online statement that read in part, “I am recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025.” The president didn’t say to whom he was making this “recommendation,” and the White House indicated to CNBC that his declaration wasn’t necessarily a formal statement of policy. The missive nevertheless sent markets reeling.
Hours later, despite months of rhetoric about his eagerness to strike trade deals, the Republican told reporters that he’s no longer “looking for a deal” with the E.U.
In developments that were about as predictable as the sunrise, two days after telling the world to expect the U.S. to impose “a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union,” Trump announced that he’d agreed to pause his policy until July, following a phone meeting with Ursula von der Leyen, who leads the European Commission. The new goal is to reach the deal that he said two days earlier that he didn’t want.
If it seems like this keeps happening, that’s because this keeps happening. I’m reminded of a recent report in The Washington Post about the White House’s erraticism.
That challenge is reflected in the sheer number of times the president has adjusted his tariff policies, at a pace economists say is without precedent. Since the inauguration on Jan. 20, Trump administration officials have announced new or revised tariff policies more than 50 times, according to a tally by The Washington Post. (A separate tally by Reed Smith, a law firm, has found about 55 such actions.)
The New York Times published a related timeline of Trump’s “widening — and constantly shifting — tariffs,” and it offered timely evidence of a president who can’t seem to make up his mind about what he’s doing, when he’s doing it, or even why he’s struggling to stick to a single idea for more than a couple of days at a time.
The problem, however, isn’t limited to the president’s apparent confusion. It’s made worse by the practical effects on American businesses.
The Washington Post recently reported that corporate executives have pleaded with the administration for “market stability.” The Wall Street Journal reported that White House officials received “panicked calls from chief executives” who have rejected Trump’s “stop-and-start trade policy and uneven economic messaging.” There’s little to suggest, however, that the Republican cares. CNBC reported in March:
President Donald Trump has dismissed the growing chorus of CEOs, investors and policymakers who are pleading with the White House for greater clarity about his sweeping tariff agenda. ‘They always say that. “We want clarity,”’ Trump said in a Fox News interview that aired Sunday.
Of course, private sector leaders “always say” they “want clarity” because — and this is the important part — they really do always want clarity. The president, however, apparently doesn’t want to give them any.
As this latest example of avoidable turmoil unfolded, Trump was asked on Friday about who’ll pay for his trade tariffs. He responded that, as far as he’s concerned, “Sometimes the country will eat it; sometimes Walmart will eat it; and sometimes there’ll be something to pay something extra.” He added that some American businesses should prepare to “take out some of their profits.” Trump admits that tariffs will increase prices for American consumers: "Sometimes the country will eat it. Sometimes Walmart will be eat. And sometimes there will be something to pay. Something extra … they have to take out some of their profits." It was a timely reminder that those who saw Trump as the “pro-business” candidate in the 2024 race had it backwards. As recent events have made clear, the United States now has a president who tells American businesses to accept fewer profits, where they should make their products, what their private employment practices should be, how many products they should expect to produce, and when the stock market should be considered important. An Axios report went so far as to conclude, “President Trump may paint China as the enemy, but lately he’s been awfully fond of their command-economy playbook.” This might not have been what the Republican’s corporate backers had in mind last year, but it’s what they’re getting now.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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