For all of the swaggering and tough talk, Trump didn’t actually take any meaningful action on tariffs yesterday. One assumes this is for the usual reasons: because he likes cliffhangers, which make him the center of attention; and because he is getting inconsistent advice from CLs and Reactionaries and doesn’t really know what to do.
Trump has always treated uncertainty as his friend. Businessmen, who need to plan months and even years ahead based on reliable information, see the world very differently. They are going to have more issues with Trump than they thought when they voted for him, as most of them did.
Will Trump be guided more by reactionary ideology or by the short-term actions of the market? Don’t expect a consistent answer to that question.