Behind the ‘Chaos’: Trump’s Strategy to Rebuild America

Former Vice President Kamala Harris delivered her first major speech since leaving office at Emerge America’s 20th anniversary gala in San Francisco this week. She described the current state of the U.S. economy as “the greatest man-made economic crisis in modern presidential history.”

She must have forgotten that the Biden-Harris administration presided over 9.1% inflation, soaring interest rates that priced first-time buyers out of the housing market, and two consecutive periods of negative GDP growth, which most economists would define as a recession.

To be fair, a cursory glance at the U.S. economy does reveal some vulnerabilities. Yet beneath those trouble spots lies a deliberate strategy. President Donald Trump is pursuing three critical objectives—each one justified, essential, and ultimately intended to reinforce both our economic might and U.S. national security.

The first objective is a comprehensive overhaul of U.S. trade relationships. Trump is using tariffs as a negotiating tool to secure more favorable terms with other nations. By imposing—or threatening to impose—tariffs, the administration aims to pressure our trading partners into eliminating what it views as unfair barriers, subsidies, and practices that put American businesses at a disadvantage. The goal is to establish a more level playing field for U.S. industries.

Trump’s tariffs have faced significant criticism from those who fail to understand just how much the rest of the world exploits the U.S. in trade. Washington Post writer and Fox News contributor Marc Thiessen recently shared on a Special Report panel that, last year, the U.S. paid $370 billion in tariffs to foreign countries while receiving only $70 billion in return. If these figures are accurate, is it any wonder why Trump is working to balance the scales?

Achieving this goal requires nothing less than disrupting and resetting the entire global trading system. It’s a formidable and inherently messy undertaking — fraught with risk and not for the faint of heart.

That’s precisely why no modern president, until now, has been willing to risk their legacy by tackling this issue head-on. It’s far easier—and politically safer—to simply kick the can down the road.

Second, Trump is trying to break the economy’s dependence on government spending. Barring major crises such as World War II or the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. economy was never more dependent on the federal government than when Biden shuffled out of the Oval Office for the last time.

According to a report from Bank of America Global Research, by the end of the Biden administration, the public sector was responsible for 85% of U.S. job growth and 33% of all spending. To continue on that trajectory would mean large and ultimately unsustainable increases in government spending year after year. Eventually, America would become insolvent.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent explained, “The market and the economy have become hooked, become addicted, to excessive government spending, and there’s going to be a detox period.”

Once again, few presidents would be willing to expend their political capital on such a bold undertaking.

And finally, Trump is working to decouple the U.S. economy from China. The pandemic made it unmistakably clear that America had become deeply dependent on China—not only for finished pharmaceutical products but also for the active ingredients essential to producing critical medications. Beyond pharmaceuticals, the U.S. relies heavily on China for consumer electronics, semiconductors, rare earth elements, steel and aluminum, industrial machinery, and much more.

Decoupling from China should have been a top priority for former President Joe Biden. Whether he was compromised by his family’s foreign influence peddling business, lacked the mental acuity to tackle such a complex challenge, or simply didn’t have the political will, he failed to act.

The recent calm in financial markets suggests that investors are beginning to grasp the broader picture. They understand that while the process will take time, it will ultimately prove worthwhile.

On Wednesday morning, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that the economy had contracted by 0.3% in the first quarter, sending stock index futures tumbling and pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average down nearly 800 points in early trading. However, it soon became clear that the contraction was largely driven by a surge in imports, as businesses rushed to stockpile inventory ahead of the impending tariffs. Since imports subtract from gross domestic product, this context reassured investors, and the market reversed its losses, and ended the day with a gain.

Moreover, Trump’s initiatives are starting to bear fruit. So far, corporate CEOs, both foreign and domestic, have pledged nearly $5 trillion of new investments in the U.S.

Additionally, administration officials have publicly stated that they are weeks, not months, away from signing the first tariff deals with our foreign trading partners. India will likely be the first country to sign. Japan and South Korea could quickly follow.

To cap it off, deregulation, the extension of the 2017 tax cuts, more energy production, and cuts in government spending are coming. Trump hopes to sign his big beautiful bill by July 4, if not sooner.

Finally, on Friday morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 177,000 jobs were added to the economy in April, handily beating expectations of 130,000.

Financial analyst Charlie Gasparino pointed out that another familiar change agent, President Ronald Reagan, faced a tumultuous stock market early on. The markets were reacting to uncertainty as he worked to implement his agenda.

Despite that shaky start, the DJIA had a net gain of more than 150% during Reagan’s presidency.

The bottom line is that some short-term economic instability is unavoidable. Let’s give Trump some leeway—he’s venturing into territory few presidents have had the courage to confront.

 

A previous version of this article appeared in the Washington Examiner.

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