The Trump White House rarely admits defeat. It prefers the posture of inevitability: broad shoulders, big hands, and economic proclamations delivered with the rhythmic confidence of a real estate listing. Thursday morning, that posture cracked.
Buried in a late Friday news dump, Donald Trump issued a sweeping executive order exempting more than 100 food items from the reciprocal tariffs he once insisted were essential to safeguarding America’s economic security.
The order itself makes clear why: domestic demand, production capacity, and trade negotiations all made these exemptions “necessary and appropriate.” In other words, the policy had become politically and economically untenable.
I continue to think at least his administration, maybe not him specifically, drove prices up in 2025 on purpose.
Imagine midterm campaign ads, bragging about how prices have decreased, and citing annual percentage decrease. Damn near impossible when you are always trying your best to manage affordability but perhaps actually doable if you blow things up the year prior.
If they did somehow cut a partial rebate check from the tariffs right smack in the middle of midterm campaigns, they brag about lower prices and people feel the weight of that bonus in their pocket, even if it was their own money in the first place. Lots of people act like tax refund is some sort of spring bonus instead of repayment of a 0% loan they have to the government.
In short, they are going to win midterms by botching the off year.