Trump’s recent statements on the economy are even more bonkers than usual

Trump’s recent statements on the economy are even more bonkers than usual Steven Greenhouse Our ‘genius’ president is revealing his ignorance of economics, fueling concerns about the threat he poses to the world

D onald Trump recently made a bold claim about his abilities, writing on Truth Social : “The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!”

But in the days before and after that post, Trump made one mind-boggling statement after another, including one that raised the possibility of cutting off all trade with dozens of the US’s trading partners. The president’s statements had many experts questioning not just his intelligence, but also whether he – and the outlandish policies he was proposing – were a clear and present danger to both the US economy and the world economy. Public respect for Trump’s economic sense has fallen so low that just 7% of Americans think he should take the lead in regulating AI, according to a recent WSJ poll .

Responding to Trump’s reckless statements, one prominent advocacy group, Republicans Against Trump, derided him as “Dumbest. President. Ever. ”

Economists and corporate executives were especially alarmed by two Trump statements. First, he wrote on Truth Social: “ I’ll stop trading with countries with which we have a deficit” if the Federal Reserve doesn’t cut interest rates.

The second disconcerting statement was: “ If we stopped Trading with every country that we have a Deficit with, which is most of them, we would make, at least, 1.5 Trillion Dollars a year.”

Not only is Trump’s arithmetic childishly silly here, but any college student who took Econ 101 knows that if a trade-dependent nation like the US suddenly ended all trade with dozens of countries, that would lead to economic disaster. What’s more, it was worrisome that Trump views himself as almighty emperor with the power to singlehandedly halt hundreds of billions of dollars in trade.

If Trump ordered the US to terminate all trade with every place with which it has a trade deficit – that includes China, Mexico, Taiwan and the European Union – many US manufacturers would quickly find themselves in desperate straits, unable to obtain critically needed computer chips, rare earths, auto parts, aluminum and much more. As a result, many factories would be forced to close. Not only that, many farmers would be crippled because they couldn’t import the fertilizer they need, while many homebuilders would have to stop work because they couldn’t import needed lumber.