Trump has frenemies jumping through his hoops

Lucy could not be reached for comment

Trump lived up to his word on Sunday and slapped 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, which were to begin today. He had vowed to slap them with tariffs because they refused to stop illegal aliens and fentanyl from entering the United States of America.

The reaction of the media and economists was panic and fearmongering. They immediately pounced from their towers of ivory into the abyss of failure.

The New York Times reported, “President Trump’s move this weekend to slap sweeping tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China is threatening to fracture the global trading system and a world economic order that once revolved around a U.S. economy that prized open investment and free markets.

“The speed and scope of the import duties that Mr. Trump unveiled in executive orders on Saturday prompted widespread criticism from many lawmakers, economists and business groups, who assailed the actions as economic malpractice. They warned that the tariffs, which were levied in response to Mr. Trump’s concerns about fentanyl smuggling and illegal immigration, could inflame inflation, cripple American industries and make China an even more powerful global trade hub.”

The media howled over the Dow Jones Industrial Average opening 450 points lower than it closed on Friday.

That’s like a 20-point fall when Reagan was president.

Nevertheless, AP reported, “Stocks tumbled on Monday as Wall Street braced for the impact of steep new tariffs ordered by President Trump, with mounting fears the new import duties could spark a trade war that could crimp corporate profits and dampen consumer spending.”

Only the Duke Brothers would bet against The Donald, but here we are.

Axios said, “The decision by President Trump to impose sweeping tariffs on Mexico and Canada is a stark repudiation of his own approach between 2017 and 2020.

“Why it matters: No one yet knows whether these tariffs are an attempt by a transactional president to extract concessions from U.S. trading partners, or whether they're intended to become a permanent feature of the post-Trump landscape, designed to create a self-sufficient country much less reliant on international supply chains.”

No one knows? He said why he is imposing tariffs: to force Canada and Mexico to get off their asses and protect the border. But writer of the story is by Felix Salmon, the Dollar General Paul Krugman.

Let me assure you, the latter is doing better at Substack than he did at NYT. Far better.

But it is the same old stupidity, “When democracies die, big business and wealthy individuals often play a crucial role in their demise. They provide a would-be strongman with financial support; their control of or influence over news media ensures that he receives favorable coverage, while his opponents are trashed. They do this because they expect to be rewarded with policies that favor their interests and imagine that they will in effect be shareholders in the new autocracy.

“What comes next is familiar to anyone who studies history (which the oligarchs don’t.) Eventually it becomes clear that they don’t own the dictator they’ve helped install; he owns them. Maybe they’ll like some of his policies, maybe they won’t, but in any case they’re not in control—and they soon learn that criticizing the big man isn’t just fruitless, it’s dangerous.

“In the past this script has typically taken a few years to play out, but this is the internet age, so right now in America the process seems to be taking only a few weeks.

“Donald Trump’s decision to launch an all-out trade war, not with China, but with our neighbors and allies—who are gearing up for large-scale retaliation—probably isn’t the most important thing happening right now. I’ll talk in a minute about what is. But it has certainly come as a wake-up call for business.”

Turn in your Nobel for Economics, Mister Krugman.

By now, everyone in the world should realize President Trump is a very sane genius. He did the math. Mexico’s exports to the USA were nearly $500 billion last year. Its entire GDP is a shade under $1.8 trillion.

Trade with the USA represents roughly 27% of the Mexican economy. Meanwhile, trade with Mexico represents less than 2% of our economy.

There is no way in hell that Mexico will engage a trade war with the USA. Size matters. Its economy is hung like a horsefly.

And so Collin Rugg tweeted at 10:48 AM on Monday:

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum folds, says she agreed to send 10,000 troops to the U.S. border after a “good” call with President Trump.

Remarkable.

Sheinbaum released the following post on X (translated):

“We had a good conversation with President Trump with great respect for our relationship and sovereignty; we reached a series of agreements:

1. Mexico will immediately reinforce the northern border with 10,000 members of the National Guard to prevent drug trafficking from Mexico to the United States, particularly fentanyl.

2. The United States is committed to working to prevent the trafficking of high-powered weapons to Mexico.

3. Our teams will begin working today on two fronts: security and trade.

4. They are pausing tariffs for one month from now.”

The development comes hours after Trump told reporters what he needed to see to lift tariffs on Mexico.

Knees are for bending.

Mexico did the same thing nearly 6 years ago. (“Trump drops his Mexico tariff threat after reaching immigration enforcement deal.”) Then FJB came in and the program ended.

As for Canada, every Trump supporter’s favorite candidate for PM, Pierre Poilievre, tweeted:

TAKE BACK CONTROL OF THE BORDER & SAVE Canada-U.S. trade:

We must:

1. Send Canadian Forces troops, helicopters & surveillance to the border now

2. Add at least 2000 border agents & extend CBSA powers along the entire border, not just crossings

3. Install high-powered scanners, border surveillance towers & truck-mounted drone systems to spot border incursions

Like I said, knees are for bending.

And that is exactly what Canada did in the afternoon. End Wokeness tweeted:

PM Justin Trudeau caves, says he will do the following to delay tariffs for thirty days:

✅ $1.3 BILLION border plan

✅US-Canada Joint Strike Force

✅$200 million for intel operations

✅10k personnel for border security

✅Fentanyl Czar to combat smuggling

Straighten up. Daddy’s home.

But MMMA—Make Mexico Mexican Again—and making Castreau cry were not his only achievements this weekend. Ric Grenell went to Venezuela and brought back 6 Americans and an agreement for Venezuela to accept all deportees.

That came after Trump told the president of Colombia to accept deportees or face a tariff. The media screamed about the price of coffee rising which would spark inflation and a worldwide depression. That caterwauling ended when El Presidente sent planes to fetch his deportees from the USA.

Then Marco Rubio went to Panama.

“The audacious demand, which Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino called ‘impossible’ and regional leaders denounced as 19th century-style imperialism, is widely seen as an opening negotiating position to secure lower fees for U.S. goods passing through the canal or closer cooperation on migration.”

The canal was built in the 20th century. But what are facts?

Trump’s purpose is to get Panama to protect the canal from Red China.

Reuters reported, “Marco Rubio on Monday welcomed Panama’s decision to let its participation in China's global infrastructure plan expire, calling the move a great step forward for its ties with the United States.

“Any move by Panama to distance itself from Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature Belt and Road Initiative is a win for Washington, which has argued that Beijing uses the scheme for debt trap diplomacy to cement its global influence.

“Rubio this week made his first overseas trip as the top U.S. diplomat under President Donald Trump to Panama, a close U.S. partner in Latin America, and pressured the country over its ties with China.

“After talks with Rubio, Panama's President Jose Raul Mulino said his country's broad agreement to contribute to the Chinese initiative will not be renewed, and could be terminated early. He said the deal was set to expire in two to three years, but did not elaborate.”

Speaking of Rubio, CBS reported, “The United States Agency for International Development, will be merged into the State Department with significant cuts in the workforce, but it will remain a humanitarian aid entity, three U.S. officials told CBS News.”

Wow, the secretary of State will control foreign aid. How about that?

This means Democrats will no longer control the USAID bureaucracy when there is a Republican president. Any executive branch entity that calls itself an independent agency is run by Democrats and must be brought into the reality that the president is the chief of the executive branch.

But wait, that’s not all. ABC reported, “Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele Monday and said that ‘in an act of extraordinary friendship’ Bukele had agreed not only to take in deported foreign nationals who committed crimes—but also jailed American citizens and permanent residents.”

Instead of a nice federal prison, gangbangers will be housed in a Salvadoran prison camp made of cold concrete and steel.

Trump is getting right what presidents must get right to win re-election, and that is foreign policy. That is good news for JD Vance who won’t need Nancy Pelosi to tell the president in 2028 to stand down and let his VP run.

Our frenemies—Canada, Europe, Mexico and others—rattle sabers.

America just unleashed Donald Trump, its saber-toothed tiger.