The chaos and bombast that have driven President Donald Trump’s White House into its deepest crisis yet just burst America’s borders.
Trump’s sudden announcement Thursday of punishing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, after a typically disorganized and opaque rollout, left much of the world feeling the whiplash that has rocked Washington all week.
“What’s been allowed to go on for decades is disgraceful. It’s disgraceful,” Trump told reporters, delivering a sudden shock to the global economy by saying he would unveil tariffs next week of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum. He further stoked fears of world turmoil Friday morning, tweeting that “trade wars are good” when the US is losing billions in overseas deals.
World powers now know what it’s been like for Trump’s fellow Republicans and staff in a week of turmoil and neck-jerking policy pivots that have left them groping for clarity and trying to work out exactly where the President stands.
At home, stocks crashed on the President’s offhanded announcement, while GOP leaders, stung by a second straight day of Trump trampling party orthodoxy after his surreal meeting Wednes