Despite his complaints about socialism, Donald Trump’s vision of the U.S. economy is not a free market. It is an economy personally managed by him, as the supreme dealmaker-in-chief telling everyone else what to make, who to hire, and what to buy. In his recent trip to Asia, while accepting a crown, Trump abused his illegal power over tariffs to make this vision come true.
You’ll find this buried a little ways into a New York Times report on the trip:
Until Wednesday, talks had been hung up in large part over the investment provision. The United States wanted a cash investment, but South Korea expressed concern that committing such a sizable sum of money could destabilize its currency.
According to Mr. Kim, the United States will now lower import tariffs on South Korean goods to 15 percent from the 25 percent rate that went into effect in August. In addition, he said the United States agreed to accept cash investments of up to $20 billion a year, and set aside another $150 billion to invest in its American shipbuilding operations. …
South Korea scored more concessions and landed a generally less onerous deal than Japan, which has agreed to invest $550 billion in the United States under its trade deal. A memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tokyo stated that Mr. Trump will select how the money will be invested. If Japan goes against his wishes, he will have the right to impose higher tariffs.
The key sentence is: “Mr. Trump will select how the money will be invested.” The foreign policy of the United States, including tariff policy, is supposed to be used to benefit the United States, not to extort an investment fund to be managed personally by the president.
This is a key part of Trump’s program of authoritarian power consolidation. He wants to be able to direct investments toward those who support him—who donate to his White House ballroom or buy media companies that give him flattering coverage—and to direct it away from anyone who does not bend the knee.
The Executive Watch is a project of the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism, and its flagship publication The UnPopulist, to track in an ongoing way the abuses of the power of the American presidency. It sorts these abuses into five categories: Personal Grift, Political Corruption, Presidential Retribution, Power Consolidation, and Policy Illegality. Click the category of interest to get an overview of all the abuses under it.
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