Donald Trump’s new half a trillion dollar disaster
Donald Trump is about to sign the biggest peacetime tax increase in history. That’s it. That’s the framing we’re going with – and it’s 100% accurate. Unlike taxes covering services like trash removal or fire safety, however, tariffs are entirely one way – charging the consumer while providing them with no actual benefit in return. $600 billion worth of sales taxes on all imported goods from every country for the next ten years.
We don’t even need our people to research it. Trump advisor Peter Navarro already projected the cost on TV, in a last ditch effort to try and portray this as good. Conservatives are trying to spin this as a way to encourage domestic manufacturing, but that’s simply not how things work – with raw materials that simply don’t exist in the States and must be imported.
Last time Republicans had a trifecta, they pulled off one of the least popular tax cuts in history – as the GOP let their donors keep even more money and pushed the burden on our shoulders. Now they’re about to make a mistake that’s likely to be even less popular – and cost them in November 2025 and 2026.
Regardless of the concessions Trump makes in the days ahead, this is the messaging to keep up with: Republicans are the party of pointless taxes that don’t help anyone – and they’re also the party of wasteful spending – as we work to drive down their approval ratings. The fallout is already awful – and they haven’t even unveiled their budget for next year, which is going to be even worse.
James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making