Trump’s campaign commercials didn’t say anything about tariffs; they just told us that we could trust him on the economy. When he was asked about tariffs, he insisted that foreigners would pay them. In office, he has imposed tariffs more or less at random, and without any obvious justification. As a result, the American people are completely unprepared both for the direct impacts of the tariffs and for the inevitable retaliation that is already following.
Reality is going to bite. Even the base is going to complain about higher prices and lost sales. Then what? TBD.