No doubt that Trump’s pushing his luck in a major way with all these trade disputes. And from a political standpoint, it’s difficult to understand most of it; the economy is doing quite well, which is good for Trump. But if the potential fallout from these tariffs is realized, the economy will suffer mightily, and he basically won’t have anything positive to campaign on in the midterms.

That being said, I have to admit that when it comes to China specifically, I have some sympathy for his tough stance. They have been screwing us over in myriad ways for years, and no one on either side of the aisle has had the guts to stand up and challenge their behavior. His motivations may not be noble, but part of me is happy that he’s doing what he’s doing. I wish he’d stop doing it to our allies in Europe and Canada, though.