Trump’s Trickle-Up Economics

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Trump Administration Makes Moves on the Economy: President Trump branded himself as a man who knew the “art of the deal” (note the ghostwriter for that book is staunchly anti-Trump). Trump campaigned saying he would be too busy striking amazing deals and would not have enough time for golf (unlike that do-nothing President Obama). And he claimed his dealmaking powers would quickly resolve the country’s most intractable issues: healthcare reform, infrastructure development, NAFTA, and the tax code.

Despite calling NAFTA one of the worst deals ever, the Trump administration announced that it will not sign an executive order to cancel it. Instead, Trump is looking to renegotiate the terms of NAFTA. Now it remains to be seen whether or not the Trump administration will pull a winning hand after several miscalculated bluffs. His opponents have quickly figured out how to read Trump’s political poker tells–from the Freedom Caucus sabotaging Trumpcare to the Democrats being willing to have the government shutdown if the border wall isn’t funded.

Trump campaigned on the vision of him channeling Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross and Always Be Closing deals. But what has actually happened is the reverse–Alec Baldwin has become more like Trump than we ever thought possible.

Trump, the Anti-Robin Hood: Yesterday was a field day for Trump’s economic team as they also unveiled a new tax plan. And yesterday officially marked the end of Trump as a ‘populist.’ The proposed tax bill would significantly lower tax rates and greatly benefit the wealthiest Americans. All businesses would pay a 15 percent tax rate, and there would only be three tax brackets: 10, 25, and 35 percent. The administration seeks to eliminate the estate tax and alternative minimum tax, and corporations would not be taxed on foreign profits. All of these proposed tax changes would greatly benefit Trump, Inc. and perhaps unsurprisingly since these reforms were spearheaded by Gary Cohn (11 years at Goldman Sachs) and Steve Mnuchin (17 years at Goldman Sachs). We would really love to interview Steve Bannon right now and ask him just how much this helps Middle America. Our spidey senses tell us that Bannon will strike back, and a clash of clans will erupt in the Trump administration. A ‘team of rivals’ is too gentle a description.

Venezuela to Leave the Organization of American States: In an unprecedented move, Venezuela on Wednesday decided to pull out of the Organization of American States (OAS), a regional body that has long been critical of President Nicolás Maduro’s attempt to consolidate his power at the expense of the country’s democratic institutions. The withdrawal process is expected to take two years (UK ‘Remainers,’ you are not alone!). The OAS’ charter promotes democracy among member states in the Western Hemisphere; Venezuela is a founding member. This is the first time a member has initiated withdrawal procedures since the organization was founded in 1948. For the past month, Venezuela has been experiencing nation-wide demonstrations against Maduro’s government, the worst unrest the country has seen since 2014.

Turkish President Purges Police Force: Over 9,000 Turkish policemen have been suspended over suspected ties to Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic cleric (now in exile in the US) who has been accused of orchestrating last July’s attempted coup. The suspensions took place over a week after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan won a referendum that greatly expands his powers. It was expected by many that after his referendum win (which is still being contested by the opposition), Erdogan would continue his post-coup purges now that there is no risk of alienating voters. On Wednesday, it was the police force that was cleaned out, and other institutions are likely to follow suit. The scale of the police arrests alarmed governments in the rest of Europe and will likely further stall Turkey’s bid to join the EU.

US Senate Takes Field Trip to White House to Learn Nothing Really New About North Korea: Nearly every single US senator attended a White House briefing yesterday on North Korea. President Trump appeared briefly before handing off the meeting to his foreign policy and national security captains: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, Defense Secretary James Mattis, and General Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Senators are regularly briefed by the administration on national security issues, but usually these briefings occur on Capitol Hill, where rooms are specially designed for these types of sensitive discussions. The White House auditorium is not typically used for large-scale national security briefings and must be specially outfitted in order to hold classified meetings. Loading nearly 100 senators onto buses for a one-hour meeting had people wondering (as Vox noted): “Was the United States about to announce some risky new policy on North Korea? Perhaps some kind of scary military escalation, or even a preemptive strike on a nuclear-armed power?” Was this a War Room gathering à la Dr. Strangelove? No, not really. Not really anything like that.

Instead, while some senators said they were reassured by the meeting, many agreed that they had not learned anything new, or as Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) noted, nothing that “you couldn’t read in the newspaper.” Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) said after the meeting: “It’s a very serious situation, just as I had (thought) before I went there.”

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