CNN: It’ll be tough for Trump to dig his way out of this one

With his chaotic trade policy, President Donald Trump is digging himself into an economic and political hole so deep, it may prove impossible to climb out.

On Wednesday morning, just after markets spent a day reeling from Trump’s on-again-off-again threat to levy extraordinary energy, steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and to destroy the country’s auto industry, Trump placed tariffs on all steel and aluminum imported from every country around the world, a policy that could drive up prices on a broad range of consumer and industrial goods for Americans. Europe immediately retaliated, adding pressure on a variety of American industries.

Wall Street has grown nervous about the damage Trump’s policies could inflict on America’s still-strong but increasingly wobbly economy. Stocks have plunged, with the Nasdaq falling into correction (a decline of 10% from its recent high) and the S&P 500 flirting with that inauspicious territory.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/12/economy/recession-tariff-trump/index.html

UK Independent: Fund managers quietly fear Trump doesn’t have a tariff plan and that he ‘might be insane’

Some fund managers concerned ‘that the White House is not acting rationally, but rather on ideology. And some even fear that this may not even be ideology’

As President Donald Trump’s back-and-forth on trade policies creates chaos in the financial markets, some fund managers are questioning the rationality of his decisions.

“In the last few days, we have had many conversations with macro fund managers,” Tom Lee, the head of research at the financial analysis firm FSInsights, wrote on Wednesday morning, before Trump backed down from most of his tariffs on U.S. trading partners.

“And their concern is that the White House is not acting rationally, but rather on ideology. And some even fear that this may not even be ideology,” he added. “A few have quietly wondered if the President might be insane.”

Insane? Ideological? Or simply suffering a severe case of dementia?

You decide!

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-fund-managers-tariffs-b2730989.html

Yahoo! Finance: US forges ahead with 104% tariffs on China, says willing to talk to other countries

This is simply insane!

The United States said on Tuesday that 104% duties on imports from China will take effect shortly after midnight, even as the Trump administration moved to quickly start talks with other trading partners targeted by President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff plan.

U.S. stocks retreated on the news….

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-criticises-trump-tariff-blackmail-025526063.html

Daily Mail: White House officials are quietly freaking out about Trump upcoming ‘Liberation Day’ tariff announcement

The mood inside the White House is verging on panic with just days to go before Donald Trump‘s ‘Liberation Day’ on April 2.

Trump is expected to unveil sweeping new tariffs on America’s global trading partners, but those tasked with implementing his agenda admit they’re uncertain.

Behind closed doors, top administration officials are deeply concerned, with many quietly admitting they’re unsure what the president is actually going to do.

No one knows what the f*** is going on,’ one White House ally close to Trump’s inner circle told Politico

But with less than a week to go, even the most basic details including which countries will be hit, at what rates, and for which goods, remain undecided or constantly shifting.

White House officials are quietly freaking out about Trump upcoming ‘Liberation Day’ tariff announcement | Daily Mail Online