The Phoney Presidency Is Over — Hello, Orange Wrecking Ball
The Phoney Presidency Is Over—Hello, Orange Wrecking Ball “Trump may be one of those figures in history who appear from time to time to mark the end of an era and force it to give up its old pretences.” — Henry Kissinger, 2018 On Monday, January 20th , America anointed the second coming of Donald J. Trump, the 45th and now 47th President of the United States. President Trump is the most erratic man ever to lead the US, and in keeping with that reputation, he has wasted no time in deploying aggressive tariff measures. Within hours of his inauguration, the White House announced an “Emergency Tariff Enforcement Memorandum,” setting into motion the very actions markets had feared—yet optimistically assumed might not come so soon. Second-term presidencies can be even more unpredictable than first terms because the incumbent no longer fears re-election. Any notion that Trump might be constrained by the tech bros, particularly his new “best friend” Elon Musk, appears to be wishful thi...