Is Trump ‘Detoxing’ the Economy or Poisoning It?

Amid economic whiplash, Trump’s advisors hint there’s a master plan—a pivot from free markets to mercantilism. But is this a bold new vision or just another case of improvisational governance?

During my recent conversation with Washington Monthly’s Bill Scher, we examined the eternal question: is Trump’s tariff gambit chaos or part of a master plan? Well, it seems that one expert has an answer (more on that, below).

First, though, it’s worth examining why this question is perennial. Trump’s arguments tend to be both convoluted and contradicto…