Trump receives backing from unlikely source for his new tough tariff policies
It’s safe to say, Donald J. Trump backers – including the man himself – agree that the new
president can use all the support he can manage for his top-tier priorities/policies in his upcoming administration.
This is true even if one of the public boosters of a particular policy happens to be former vice president Mike Pence. For those who’ve paid attention during this transition period – and the campaign before it – the former governor of Indiana and the 2016 Republican presidential nominee’s choice for running mate has all-but disappeared from conversations involving today’s movers n’ shakers. It’s almost as though Pence never existed in a crucial chapter of the Trump story, the disgraced remnant from the first administration having completely lost favor in Trump world.
These days, on the odd occasion Pence gets a mention in the news, chances are it has something to do with Trump, the successful 2024 campaign, or to serve as a contrast to something Pence’s former boss has done recently. Such is the case presently, as Pence weighed-in on Trump’s bold use of tariffs to steer foreign relations.
That’s a good thing, isn’t it? In an article titled “Former Vice President Mike Pence supports Trump’s tough approach on trade”, Tom Howell Jr. reported at The Washington Times:
“Former Vice President Mike Pence says President-elect Donald Trump isn’t bluffing in his threat to impose new tariffs on China and other countries. Mr. Pence, speaking at a gala [earlier this week], said China is a rival and economic adversary to the U.S. but doesn’t need to be its enemy. He said the short-term pain of Mr. Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods could produce long-term benefits.
“‘I fervently hope his proposed tariffs will bring China back to the negotiating table. It may be uncomfortable in the short term, but it will be well worth it in the long term. We want better for America and China — and Donald Trump’s firm but fair approach is the best way to get there,’ Mr. Pence told the China General Chamber of Commerce, which represents Chinese enterprises in the U.S.
“Mr. Trump has threatened to impose a tariff of 60% on goods from China and 25% on products from Canada and Mexico if those countries do not control illegal immigration and drug trafficking.”
Hmmm… for a policy – tariffs – that has stirred such genuine resistance with cries of, “It won’t work” and “American buyers will suffer!”, the initial moves from the president-elect have sure generated a whole boatload of comments, and, for the most part, support.
Trump’s reintroduction to the tariff subject have basically just revived debate over a government policy that is quite old, the notion that America could protect and promote its industries – and raise revenues -- at the expense of, well, everyone else’s. Proponents of unfettered trade have always argued that consumers are the ones who ultimately pay for tariffs, figuring that impacted countries will naturally retaliate against domestic manufacturers and their goods, resulting in a trade war where no one wins.
The period before the American civil war was rife with strife between the rapidly industrializing northern states and the cotton-growing, slave utilizing agrarian south, a conflict that contributed heavily to the split – and war – between the states. Slavery is a much juicier topic for the race-obsessed historical revisionists to delve into, but essentially the confederate states felt they needed to secede in order to have their economies survive.
Yes, slavery was a major component of those southern economies, growing cotton being labor intensive (especially after the advent of the cotton gin) and necessary to make it profitable. All facts, but this is a subject for another time.
It’s my theory that tariffs have been largely discounted because America’s big business interests feared they would make certain corporations and big conglomerates less competitive overseas. America is also one of the leading food producers in the world… I’m not sure how modern tariffs effect commodity prices.
But when you think about it, tariffs are the ultimate America First policy. No wonder Donald Trump is so fond of them. And, as everyone who’s studied Trump’s negotiation behavior grasps, the former president-turned president-elect loves to talk big in public so as to generate news buzz and keep the strategic initiative. By doing so, he keeps everyone off balance.
Though he didn’t exactly say so, Mike Pence appears to understand what makes Trump tick, even if the two Trump 45 key figures barely speak to each other any longer. One speculates that winning in 2024 has helped heal many of the wounds that opened up in the waning days of 2020 and applied salve to the scars.
Victory has a way of doing that, even if Pence is no longer in the picture.
From appearances alone, it looks as though J.D. Vance is a much better temperament fit for Trump than Pence was. Vance, like Trump, seems to relish the fight as much as the lead-up, something Pence never was comfortable with. The fact Pence is now speaking out in favor of one of Trump’s populist America first plans will only speed the healing process – if there’s a need for one any longer.
And Trump’s views on tariffs is gaining acceptance and support, yet another sudden change from the Bush/McCain/Romney Chamber of Commerce Washington swamp days.
Trump possibly to boot the old establishment media reporters out of their prime seats
Though I wouldn’t rate this as particularly fresh news or a big shock, president elect Trump’s representatives have let it be known they’re considering a shakeup to the way press relations is conducted in the new administration. To put it mildly, Trump is planning to kick the establishment media out of the briefing room and replace them with podcasters and others with a more direct connection to the people themselves.
As would be expected, the perpetuators of “the way it’s always been” aren’t fond of the idea. And much of their angst involves being moved to the back rows in the briefing room itself. The elites, it seems, feel they are entitled to sit closer to the press secretary so they can more readily get their questions acknowledged and appear on camera.
I can’t say for sure, but it’s a prestige thing.
Who can forget the old press conferences when the legendary (for what, exactly?) Helen Thomas would squat in the front row and loft remarkably liberally biased queries at Ronald Reagan. Thomas was the embodiment of the way Americans used to get their information, basically confined to watching the evening news on the major networks and relying on the big newspapers to offer more in-depth stories.
Times have changed, and Donald Trump has never been shy about hiding his contempt for the “fake news” outlets, some of which were responsible for fanning the flames of “Russian collusion” and basically acting as boils on the president’s backside, spreading sensationalistic rumors and revealing leaks as though they were legitimate news stories.
What did Bill Clinton used to say? “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.”
At any rate, Trump hinted he was moving towards a change in the way the media will be treated under his new administration. Nothing has been officially announced yet, but here’s guessing the press room will look a lot different starting in about a month and a half.
Just because it’s what they do, the media won’t alter the way they cover things. The liberal journos are still overwhelmingly Democrats, after all, so expect more of the same from that quarter. But the days of the so-called establishment sources holding a monopoly on access to spokespeople and being given a pass because of the names on their press badges are (hopefully) over.
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