The Friday Brief

March 6, 2025

Inside: Trump loses the Tariff War. ETTD is coming for Elon. The King’s Speech flopped. Trump kills the U.S. Defense Industry. Marco Rubio, Communist. Rousing French Clarity. Fight Better, Democrats. Betraying Veterans. Doing Big Things. Ad of The Week. What I’m Reading. Substack Finds. Scenes from the Home Front.

Trump Loses The Tariff War

Mexico and Canada just body-slammed Donald Trump on tariffs (again), leaving the MAGA crew muttering about “fentanyl smugglers” and “Snow Mexicans” while those two nations walk away with the W.

For a president and a movement that hold Mexico and Canada in barely-disguised contempt, this one will leave a mark. It also proves that his Shart of the Deal is as subtle and sophisticated as Trump’s taste in decorating: loud, vulgar, and repellent.

If Trump thinks he’s going to huff and puff and blow down the Great Trade Wall of China with this nonsense, he’s in for a rude awakening. Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin is sitting somewhere popping champagne. Our friends and allies—Canada and Mexico—already saw how to outplay Trump, so imagine what Xi has planned. The man who can’t stick to a decision for more than a weekend is ripe for a tariff ass-whipping.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (allegedly one of the normies in Trumplandia) stepped in it this week at the Economic Club of New York, insisting “Access to cheap goods is not the essence of the American dream,” as though the average American doesn’t notice that groceries, diapers, and medication cost more when trade wars and chaos kneecap the supply chain. It was a “Let them eat brioche” moment if there ever was one.