Well, he finally did it. Trump’s tariffs are here, and the world and its markets are reacting. As is the media: Plenty of headlines once the markets opened were straightforward enough — US stock markets tumble as investors shaken by Trump tariffs, Stocks plunge and businesses recoil after across-the-board tariffs, and so on — but some focused on juicy corners of the news or offered analysis or an obvious slant or just a degree of gullibility that should embarrass a small child. Here are just a few of them, ranked from best to worst:
4. Der Spiegel: “Größter zollpolitischer Schock für die Weltökonomie der vergangenen 100 Jahre”
5. Wall Street Journal: Switzerland Says It’s Baffled by Tariff Calculations
6. The Boston Globe: Trump is trying to use tariffs to impose his will on the economy. It doesn’t work like that.
7. ABC News: ‘Trust in President Trump,’ White House says, defending his tariffs amid backlash (as always, there is no law that you have to prominently feature quotes from the lyingest liars who ever lied)
8. The Atlantic: The Good News About Trump’s Tariffs (yes this is apparently an argument that the unpopularity that will follow the tariffs is worth it; yes this is Jonathan Chait)
9. Wall Street Journal again: Trump Tariffs Aim to Bring Down Curtain on Era of Globalization
10. Fox News: Trump’s tariffs already have some countries crawling back to negotiate — while others make threats
11. Getting crushed and ground into a fine paste after being fed into an industrial-scale printing press
12. New York Times: Trump’s Tariffs Are Latest Sign of His Second-Term Appetite for Risk
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