Donald Trump promised that his tariff regime would bring wealth and prosperity to the country, but because it is obvious that misleading economic tantrums will make Americans more expensive, the president advised everyone to simply buy less.
Yes, tariffs will make it harder for consumers to afford goods, but it's no big deal if "kids have two dolls instead of 30 dolls." In an interview with NBC News on Sunday, he was asked questions about the comments and directly urged whether prices would be raised due to his dispute with China.
Trump reiterated that little girls don’t need “30 dolls,” adding that one person “does not need 250 pencils, they can have five.”
What?
The golden age of America's prosperity is obviously not marked by lower housing prices, rising wages, and affordability of goods and services, but by arbitrary pencil rationing and fewer dolls?
Later Sunday, he tripled his anti-consumerist stadium while talking to journalists. "A young lady - a 10-year-old girl, a 9-year-old girl, a 15-year-old girl - does not need 37 dolls. She may be very satisfied with 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 dolls," the president said of the imaginary example of personal austerity.
Now, we can’t speculate on how Trump children are subject to birthdays and Christmas, but the average "young ladies" in this country don’t have 37 dolls. It is unlikely that any parent (in addition to the rash rich, financially irresponsible or profoundly lost contact) would both consider this a reasonable doll-to-child ratio.
When the president tries to explain the negative economic impact of his tariff war with China and other major trading partners, it is clear that this man rarely has to keep in mind the daily purchases his family makes, even what the average American family actually consumes.
The reality is that the president's unilateral decision to include the country in one of the biggest trade disputes in its history will cost consumers money. Wealth hoarders like Trump may choose to give young women only to young women in their lives instead of 30 dolls, but everyday Americans saving for Christmas season may have a hard time finding a affordable gift for their children in their lives, given that retailers have predicted a shortage of toys for trade debates between China and the White House.
Last week, the Trump administration accused Amazon of “hostile and political behavior,” after rumors that the retail giant would list tariff-based price increases on its website. The company reportedly issued a clarification after Trump announced Amazon founder Jeff Bezos that “the team that operates our ultra-low-cost Amazon runs stores have considered listing import fees on certain products” but has not set up such policies.
Of course, allowing Amazon to interact transparently with consumers to understand why things are getting more and more expensive is to admit that the president has made a mistake and that Trump cannot make it.