ANALYSIS — President Donald Trump did not blink Wednesday while resurrecting an economic policy approach last used 95 years ago, a move that will shape his second term and help decide the fate of his “Make America Great Again” movement.
“My fellow Americans, this is Liberation Day,” Trump said at a Rose Garden event to announce sweeping tariffs — one purposely scheduled after U.S. stock markets had closed. “Foreign cheaters have ransacked our factories, and foreign scavengers have torn apart our once beautiful American dream.
“For decades, our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike,” he said, using his campaign trail rhetoric to try selling a contentious policy. “American steelworkers, autoworkers, farmers and skilled craftsmen … they really suffered gravely.”
