Cooking a Steak with Napalm
Donald Trump loves to say his economy from 2016-2020 was “the greatest in history.”
It wasn’t.
It was a sugar high fueled by billionaire tax cuts, tariffs disguised as policy, and a debt explosion that would make Reagan blush. And now? He’s running the same con again—this time with a blanket 10% tariff on all imports, announced with zero strategy on what he called “Liberation Day.”
Liberation from what, exactly? Sanity?
Because just twelve hours later, China hit back with a brutal 34% retaliation tariff on all U.S. goods and blacklisted a string of American companies from their market. It’s not just a trade war. It’s a firebomb aimed at the global economy.
Wall Street immediately shed trillions in value—the worst session since the COVID crash.
Trump didn’t “fix” the economy. He broke it, blamed everyone else, and now he wants a second chance to finish the job.
The Economist Saw It Coming
- 2023: “The Envy of the World” – U.S. economic strength under Biden
- 2025: “Ruin-ation Day” – Trump’s tariffs trigger panic and retaliation
Even The Economist—a right-leaning, pro-capitalist publication beloved by hedge fund managers and Oxford grads—sounded the alarm.
Their new cover shows Trump taking a saw to a map of the US. The title?
“Ruin-ation Day.”
This isn’t MSNBC. This isn’t Mother Jones. This is The Economist.
And even they’re saying “run.”
Meanwhile, Trump is bragging about “liberating” America’s economy.
The stock market tanked. The yuan is spiking. The world’s second-largest economy is retaliating.
This isn’t liberation. It’s lunacy with a branding team.
Was Trump’s Economy Even Good?
Let’s murder the myth with math.
Trump inherited a growing economy, juiced it with tax cuts for billionaires, then blew a hole in the federal budget. When the COVID crash hit, everything cratered—and his policies left us weaker going into it.
Here’s how Trump stacks up against other presidents on hard economic indicators.
📊 Economic Scorecard: Carter to Biden
| President | GDP Growth | Unemployment | Inflation | S&P 500 | Real Income | Debt (% GDP) | Mfg. Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carter | 3.5% | 6.5% | 9.8% | 12.5% | ↓ 8.1% | ↓ to 25.2% | +1.03M |
| Reagan | 3.4% | 7.5% | 4.7% | 12.8% | ↑ 6.3% | ↑ to 53.1% | +1.06M |
| Clinton | 3.9% | 5.2% | 2.6% | 17.4% | ↑ 23% | ↓ to 56.4% | +2.4M |
| Bush Jr. | 2.2% | 5.3% | 2.8% | -3.5% | Flat | ↑ to 84.2% | -1.3M |
| Obama | 1.7% | 7.4% | 1.4% | 15.6% | ↑ 5.3% | ↑ to 102.7% | +1.04M |
| Trump | 1.4% | 5.0% | 1.4% | 16.0% | ↑ 4.9% | ↑ to 126% | -2.94M |
| Biden | 3.2% | 3.4% | 3.0% | +55% | ↑ 6.0% | ~122% | +0.5M |
Trump 1.0 ranks dead last on GDP growth and manufacturing jobs.
He wins on debt explosion and leaving future generations a flaming dumpster of IOUs.
And Sleepy Joe - you know, the last guy, where we could actually sleep at night - had positive manufacturing job growth, despite recovering from a global pandemic (and Trump 1.0).
Pro tip: If you add $8 trillion in debt and still lose jobs?
You didn’t “run the economy like a business.”
You ran it like Enron.
Tariffpocalypse 1.0 (2018–2020): No One Won
Trump said tariffs would save American jobs.
They didn’t.
Here’s what his first trade war actually did:
- Raised prices for American consumers 1
- Triggered retaliation from China, Canada, and the EU
- Slashed U.S. exports in agriculture and autos
- Sent companies like Apple and Nike into panic mode 2
- Prompted global corporations to say the quiet part loud:
“There are no winners.” 3
Even the IMF issued a warning: Trump’s tariffs posed a “significant risk” to global economic stability 4.
And what did we get for all that pain?
- No reduction in the trade deficit.
- No return of supply chains.
- Fewer U.S. manufacturing jobs.
Congrats on playing economic chicken and losing to… everyone.
Tariffpocalypse 2.0 (2025): Dumber, Louder, Faster
On April 1, 2025, Trump announced a 10% universal tariff on all imports.
No economic model. No diplomatic coordination. No adult supervision.
Twelve hours later, China retaliated with a 34% tariff on all U.S. imports and banned a list of American companies from operating inside China.
The fallout:
- Wall Street lost trillions overnight
- U.S. exporters went into full panic
- Economists? Confused. Angry. Laughing. Sometimes all three.
Rolling Stone summed it up like this:
“He just wanted the numbers to be huge.” 5
This isn’t “America First.”
It’s “Shoot first, aim never.”
Who Gets Hit Hardest by Trump’s New Tariffs?
Trump’s back with a scorched-earth trade war—and this time, he’s not even pretending it’s about strategy.
His “reciprocal tariff” plan slaps 10% on all imports, but 60 countries and blocs get hit with even higher rates, based on their trade deficit with the U.S.
That means everyday Americans pay more, while Trump gets to brag about “playing hardball” with Vietnam and Lesotho.
Here’s the full damage report:
🔥 Countries and Blocs Facing Tariffs Above the 10% Base Rate
| Country / Bloc | Tariff Rate | 2024 U.S. Imports | U.S. Trade Deficit |
|---|---|---|---|
| European Union | 20% | $605.76B | –$235.57B |
| China | 34% | $438.95B | –$295.40B |
| Japan | 24% | $148.21B | –$68.47B |
| Vietnam | 46% | $136.56B | –$123.46B |
| South Korea | 25% | $131.55B | –$66.01B |
| Taiwan | 32% | $116.26B | –$73.93B |
| India | 26% | $87.42B | –$45.66B |
| Switzerland | 31% | $63.43B | –$38.46B |
| Thailand | 36% | $63.33B | –$45.61B |
| Malaysia | 24% | $52.53B | –$24.83B |
| Indonesia | 32% | $28.08B | –$17.88B |
| Israel | 17% | $22.22B | –$7.43B |
| South Africa | 30% | $14.66B | –$8.84B |
| Philippines | 17% | $14.18B | –$4.88B |
| Cambodia | 49% | $12.66B | –$12.34B |
| Bangladesh | 37% | $8.37B | –$6.15B |
| Iraq | 39% | $7.42B | –$5.76B |
| Norway | 15% | $6.58B | –$1.99B |
| Venezuela | 15% | $5.99B | –$1.76B |
| Nigeria | 14% | $5.70B | –$1.52B |
| Guyana | 38% | $5.38B | –$4.06B |
| Pakistan | 29% | $5.12B | –$2.99B |
| Nicaragua | 18% | $4.62B | –$1.68B |
| Jordan | 20% | $3.36B | –$1.33B |
| Sri Lanka | 44% | $3.02B | –$2.65B |
| Algeria | 30% | $2.46B | –$1.45B |
| Kazakhstan | 27% | $2.33B | –$1.25B |
| Angola | 32% | $1.87B | –$1.19B |
| Libya | 31% | $1.47B | –$0.90B |
| Tunisia | 28% | $1.12B | –$0.62B |
| Ivory Coast | 21% | $1.01B | –$0.42B |
| Serbia | 37% | $0.81B | –$0.60B |
| Laos | 48% | $0.80B | –$0.76B |
| Madagascar | 47% | $0.73B | –$0.68B |
| Myanmar | 44% | $0.66B | –$0.58B |
| Botswana | 37% | $0.41B | –$0.30B |
| DR Congo | 11% | $0.32B | –$0.07B |
| Namibia | 21% | $0.28B | –$0.11B |
| Fiji | 32% | $0.26B | –$0.16B |
| Cameroon | 11% | $0.25B | –$0.06B |
| Liechtenstein | 37% | $0.24B | –$0.18B |
| Brunei | 24% | $0.24B | –$0.11B |
| Lesotho | 50% | $0.24B | –$0.23B |
| Mauritius | 40% | $0.23B | –$0.19B |
| Mozambique | 16% | $0.22B | –$0.07B |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 35% | $0.18B | –$0.13B |
| North Macedonia | 33% | $0.17B | –$0.11B |
| Zambia | 17% | $0.17B | –$0.06B |
| Moldova | 31% | $0.14B | –$0.08B |
| Equatorial Guinea | 13% | $0.13B | –$0.03B |
| Chad | 13% | $0.08B | –$0.02B |
| Zimbabwe | 18% | $0.07B | –$0.02B |
| Reunion | 37% | $0.04B | –$0.03B |
| Malawi | 18% | $0.04B | –$0.01B |
| Falkland Islands | 41% | $0.02B | –$0.02B |
| Vanuatu | 22% | $0.01B | < $10M |
| Syria | 41% | $0.01B | < $10M |
| Saint Pierre & Miquelon | 50% | < $10M | < $10M |
| Nauru | 30% | < $10M | < $10M |
| Norfolk Island | 29% | < $10M | < $10M |
Note: China’s 34% retaliation is in addition to existing U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods.
Source: White House, U.S. Census Bureau, CNN Business
Biden’s Economy: No Drama, Just Results
While Trump was busy rage-tweeting at Canada, Biden was actually running the economy.
Here’s what happened under the guy Fox News calls a “senile socialist”:
- Unemployment fell to 3.4%, the lowest in 50 years 6
- Real wages rose 6% between Q4 2019 and Q4 2023—even after adjusting for inflation 7
- Stock market soared 55% during his term 8
- GDP growth? Stronger than Trump’s pre-COVID average
No one’s saying Biden’s perfect.
But he didn’t start a trade war with Canada.
He didn’t tank the global economy for fun.
And he didn’t claim a steak dinner while the kitchen was still burning.
He governed like an adult. And it worked.
Trump Screwed U.S. Manufacturing
Trump ran on saving American manufacturing.
He said he’d bring jobs “roaring back.”
Instead, he threw a grenade into the sector and walked away.
Let’s check the scoreboard:
- Net change in manufacturing jobs under Trump:
–2.94 million 9
That’s not just bad. That’s catastrophic.
It’s the worst performance since Herbert Hoover.
Meanwhile:
- Clinton: +2.4M
- Obama: +1.04M
- Reagan: +1.06M
- Biden: +0.5M (despite a global pandemic and the disaster that was Trump 1.0)
And remember those tariffs Trump said would “save American steel”?
They raised prices for U.S. manufacturers and killed demand downstream.
That’s right: Trump hurt the very industries he claimed to protect.
America First turned into America Fired.
The Global Blowback: Everyone Got Torched
Trump didn’t just set fire to the U.S. economy—he tossed matches at the rest of the world too.
Here’s what happened globally:
- China’s 34% retaliation in 2025 wasn’t just for show. It came with bans on U.S. companies operating inside China.
- The IMF issued an emergency statement, warning Trump’s tariffs posed a “significant risk to the global economy” 4.
- Wall Street lost trillions in a single trading day.
- Allies like Canada, Germany, and Japan were hit with retaliatory tariffs, collateral damage in a toddler’s trade tantrum 10.
- And yes—the World Trade Organization ruled many of his tariffs were illegal. Repeatedly.
This wasn’t “hardball.”
It was self-inflicted sabotage.
Even corporations that benefited short-term from protectionist policies begged him to stop 3.
But Trump wasn’t listening.
He never does.
He wanted to look “tough.”
And now the world economy is bleeding.
The House Is on Fire Again
Donald Trump didn’t rebuild the economy.
He inherited a steady recovery, juiced it with billionaire tax cuts, blew it up with tariffs, and then walked away while COVID burned what was left.
Now he’s back—with bigger tariffs, more retaliation, and no plan beyond yelling “America First!” as the ceiling collapses.
He didn’t cook the steak.
He torched the economy, then blamed the fire alarm.
Now he’s back in the kitchen—match in one hand, steak in the other—ready to burn it all over again.
You wanted chaos?
Welcome to the second course.
Sources
[1] How Much Will Tariffs Raise Prices? – NPR
[2] IMF Warns of ‘Significant Risk’ from Trump Tariffs – The Guardian
[3] ‘There Are No Winners’ – Global Companies Respond to Trump Tariffs – The Guardian
[4] IMF Statement on Trump Tariff Fallout – The Guardian
[5] Trump’s ‘Big Numbers’ Tariff Plan – Rolling Stone
[6] U.S. Unemployment at 54-Year Low – U.S. Dept. of Commerce
[7] Biden’s Record on Income Growth – CEPR
[8] Stock Market Under Biden – Morningstar
[9] Presidential Economic Performance – Nasdaq
[10] Which Countries Were Hit Hardest by Trump’s Tariffs – CNN Business
[11] Markets Crash After Trump Tariffs – Euronews
[12] China Retaliates with 34% Tariffs – The New York Times
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