The stock market rallied today on the news that Donald Trump is a complete and total wimp - which is not really news, actually. Facing a rebellion from oligarchs and his own party, he blinked, and dealt a fatal blow to his image as a strongman by making the greatest U-turn in the history of financial markets.
Did China make Trump blink? Or did the bond market? Or was it all Trump's 'Art of the Deal' at work? It looks like Trump blinked after watching markets get so close to a crash. A crashing bond market (international investors, who hold $8.5 trillion in US Treasurys with China and Japan leading the pack, are losing confidence in America’s future ability to repay its debts) as well as crashing equities is not what Trump was after and he must have decided it was time to retreat. Who knows, maybe the big bond sell-off was China's way of giving a two-finger salute to Trump. Good on ya, China!
And then Elon Musk said that Navarro is 'truly a moron ... dumber than a sack of bricks'. Navarro is the architect of Trump's tariffs. If the architect is a moron, what does that make the builder? Elon is probably right. Still, it is a helluva thing for White House insiders to say in public.
As for all that talk about deficits, Trump took into account only trade in goods, not services. Anyway, those countries who sell their goods to the US give them real value, in exchange for which the US give them I.O.Us in the form of more and more paper-dollars as well as long-term Treasury Bonds. So what do Trump's advisors call those countries that give them more than the US give them? 'They're ripping us off', they cry.
And now the most powerful man in the world tells us "they are kissing my arse". Real class! Americans, you're morons too! The whole world is watching the decline of the American empire! Take a bow, Trump!
