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2<90: Trump’s Tariff Gamble Is a Bust [1]
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Date: 2025-07-11
Ninety days. That’s the deadline Donald Trump set back in April when he promised “90 deals in 90 days” as part of his latest tariff power play. The pitch was simple: strong-arm the rest of the world with blanket 10% tariffs unless they came to heel, and then claim victory with a flurry of hastily struck trade agreements.
But on Monday, July 11, those 90 days ran out. The result? Just two deals—maybe. One with the United Kingdom, and one with Vietnam. Both are flimsy, unenforceable, and largely symbolic. Trump’s grand strategy collapsed into exactly what critics warned it would be: chaos, bluffing, and ultimately, backpedaling.
This isn’t just failed policy. It’s amateur hour at the White House.
Trade agreements—real ones—take months, even years, of coordinated negotiations, legal vetting, stakeholder consultation, and economic analysis. They don’t get hammered out on cocktail napkins during cable news breaks. The idea that 90 deals could be negotiated, signed, and finalized in 90 days is fantasyland stuff. And yet, rather than push back on this absurd timeline, Trump’s advisors and allies went along for the ride—some even parroting his talking points online and on air, knowing full well they were misleading the public.
It's a case study in delusion and complicity. Smart people who know better are enabling a dangerous charade, all to avoid the wrath of a president more interested in headlines than outcomes.
And when the fantasy predictably failed, Trump—now mockingly dubbed President TACO (short for “Trump Always Chickens Out”)—simply moved the goalposts. He now says countries have until August 1 to strike deals, and plans to send sternly worded letters to those who haven't complied. This, apparently, is the new phase of American trade policy.
The two "wins" Trump is touting? Don’t be fooled. The UK deal is nonbinding and largely duplicative of existing arrangements. It delivers no major benefits and appears tailored more for optics than substance. The Vietnam deal is equally hollow, formalizing trends that were already occurring while giving Trump a ribbon to cut for something he didn’t build.
Meanwhile, U.S. exporters remain in limbo, prices are rising, and supply chains are bracing for impact. Tariffs are a tax on American consumers, not foreign governments. Every time Trump swings this hammer, Americans end up bruised.
Trade is not reality TV. It requires patience, nuance, and long-term thinking—none of which Trump has shown. His 90-day tariff stunt may have made for good cable fodder, but it’s left America weaker, not stronger.
And here’s the real danger: Trump’s fragile ego won’t let him admit failure forever. At some point, the bluff has to end. At some point, he’ll feel cornered. And when that happens, President TACO may stop chickening out—and actually pull the trigger.
That’s when the economic pain truly begins.
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