On April 2nd, Donald Trump announced sweeping new tariffs on imports from almost every country on Earth. Stock markets immediately tanked. Global supply chains recoiled. And countries around the world are making one thing clear: the United States is no longer a trusted economic leader.
Let’s start with Canada. Prime Minister Mark Carney publicly announced that if the U.S. won’t lead, Canada will. That’s not just a soundbite — it’s a fundamental realignment. The world sees the power vacuum Trump is creating, and other countries are stepping in.
Across Europe, the response is even more stark. European officials are refusing to cooperate with the new U.S. trade policy, calling it dangerous and irrational. Germany is taking it a step further: leaders there are now openly considering removing all 1,200 tons of their strategic gold reserves from the Federal Reserve Bank in New York. That’s €113 billion in gold — nearly one-third of Germany’s entire reserve — being pulled out of the United States.
The reason? In their words, Washington is no longer a reliable partner.
Then there’s China, which hit back just hours after the tariffs were announced. Their response? A brutal 34% tariff on American exports — targeted specifically at the sectors that power the MAGA economy: agriculture, energy, semiconductors, and cars. These are not symbolic measures. They’re calculated, and they will hit American families where it hurts.
Trump’s response? He went online to declare that “CHINA PANICKED.” In reality, it’s the U.S. that looks unprepared and unhinged.
But here’s where the story takes a darker turn: the two countries that are completely exempt from Trump’s tariffs? Russia and North Korea.
Now you might assume this exemption is due to sanctions — that we’re not importing much from those countries anyway. But that’s not true in Russia’s case.
In 2024, the United States actually imported more from Russia than from Iran. Russia sent us nearly $3 billion in goods. Iran? Just $2 billion. And yet Trump’s plan puts a 10% tariff on Iranian imports — and zero on Russian ones. At best, this is negligence. At worst, it’s coordination.
Trump isn’t hiding his intentions either. He reposted a video claiming that he’s intentionally crashing the economy, claiming it’s all part of a strategy to lower oil prices.
So what are we really watching here?
It looks less like a trade policy and more like economic sabotage. We’re left with three possible explanations:
1.) Trump doesn’t know what he’s doing. He genuinely doesn’t understand the basic mechanics of international trade, global markets, or the long-term effects of a tariff war.
2.) He’s doing this in service of foreign governments. Trump has long admired authoritarian regimes — from Putin to Kim Jong Un to Viktor Orbán — and this policy disproportionately benefits their economies, while isolating ours.
3.) This is part of a fascist coup. When oligarchs want to seize total control, they crash the economy on purpose. If they take a hit, that’s fine — because they know the rest of us will suffer more. The goal isn’t stability — it’s power.
And frankly, it could be all three.
This isn’t just about tariffs. It’s about what kind of country we’re becoming.
A country where allies feel the need to prepare for our collapse. Where hostile nations are rewarded. Where economic sabotage is reframed as “strategy.”
And where the people in charge act like the fallout is someone else’s problem.
This moment is a wake-up call: not just for economists and diplomats, but for all of us.
Because if we let this kind of economic chaos become the norm, we’re not just risking recession. We’re risking our standing in the world, our national security, and the basic well-being of millions of people.
So here’s the hard truth: The global economy is crashing. Trump’s policies are pushing it over the edge. And the rest of the world is moving on, with or without us.
We can’t afford to pretend this is business as usual. It’s not. It’s sabotage, and we need to call it what it is.
With hope for a better future,
