Gordon L. Weil
The U.S. is like a nation at war.
The federal government is on the attack, deploying the
power of the American economy and military to force other nations, states, the
media and even citizens to follow the orders of President Trump and his agents.
This brutal campaign would reshape the economy and
transform the world order. It might also
replace the American democratic republic with an authoritarian regime.
The end of economic, political and military systems on
which many have relied results from the abuse of the awesome powers that
Congress has given the president in the naive belief that custom would limit
his exercise of them.
The Declaration of Independence states that it was issued
out of a “decent respect for the opinions of mankind.” The actions of the president in the few weeks
since his inauguration has shown no such decent respect for the opinions of
anybody who differs or objects.
It would take only a few people to bring the government
back under constitutional control. If even
a small number of Republicans in Congress joined with the Democrats, they could
pass veto-proof laws to recover from the president the overly broad emergency powers
he exercises. If not, the GOP will share
responsibility for Trump’s excesses.
The election certainly produced an administration determined
to break with the traditions developed since World War II. Trump always claimed that was his
intent. But his electoral majority did
not give him a blank check to destroy America’s place as world leader or its
system of balanced government.
He has routinely abused the congressional grant of
emergency authority to take sweeping actions on tariffs and other matters that
normally should be handled by Congress. He
has embarked on raising tariffs on imports from virtually the entire world
based on a disastrously incorrect understanding of economics.
He sees normal trade relations as warfare. If purchases
from another country exceed sales from the U.S. to that country, for him the
net exchange amounts to an intentional and hostile attack on the U.S. He uses tariffs to raise import prices, and believes
foreign suppliers will pay them.
Revenues from tariffs will increase.
Higher import prices will create competitive conditions for U.S.
industry, which will prosper.
Other countries have not produced favorable trade balances intending
them as hostile acts against the U.S.
Their advantages may come from paying labor too little or damaging the
environment. Higher American tariffs
won’t fix either of them, and Trump doesn’t seem to care anyway.
The ultimate absurdity of Trump’s trade policy is slapping
high tariffs on imports from Canada, a hostile act that will damage its economy. Why? Under a deal Trump made, most trade both ways
is duty free. The American trade deficit in goods is more than offset by surpluses
in trade in services and investment flows.
He charges without evidence that Canada allows floods of
illegal immigrants and fentanyl into the U.S. People on both sides of the border are
bewildered about his real intentions.
He wants Canada as the 51st state. Canada, with an economy the equal of Russia’s
and composed of 10 state-like provinces, has no interest in national suicide.
If Canadians remain unwilling, he would coerce them by using American economic
power. Is that what an aging American
president sees as his historic achievement?
He would treat Canada as a mere satellite, and just as he
does Ukraine, a nation invaded by and at war with Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Trump wants to be a peacemaker, with an eye
on the Nobel Prize. No matter that he
would sacrifice Ukraine’s land and security for his dealmaking with Putin,
whose favor he clearly seeks.
European countries, which share Ukraine’s worries about
future Russian aggression, get in Trump’s way.
They embrace President Zelenskyy.
It may have pained Trump to see him received at King Charles’ private
residence, just after Trump had received a royal invitation for a state visit.
When a group of European leaders met in London to plan
their help for Ukraine, Canada’s prime minister, having turned away from the
U.S., was among them. For the sake of
making a deal, Trump is losing American leadership of the West.
The Europeans cling to the belief they need American
backing to defend Ukraine and to pursue a lasting peace and not merely a
headline. They must gear up, but
meanwhile they could rapidly deploy major support. Britain once faced Hitler alone, while the
original America First movement kept the U.S. neutral. Europe now needs its own version of Winston
Churchill.
In this column, I try to make fair judgments, pro and con, about Trump and the Democrats. I will continue to do so. Now, it is necessary to speak out about Trump as he becomes increasingly dangerous, even to the freedom of the press.
