C: I’ve gathered you together to talk about the first six months of Trump 2.0. What grade would you give it?
S: An A.
M: C minus.
C: That’s quite a disparity. Let’s start with some positives. Mark, what would you say Trump got right?
M: He extended the tax cuts, which was extremely important. He’s also trying to deregulate business, although he doesn’t seem to know how to do it. The Musk cuts only made the program look bad; they didn’t save much money or cut permitting times.
C: Sebastian, what about you?
S: Almost everything has gone according to plan. Trump is sticking it to the people we hate. He’s cutting the elites down to size, getting rid of systemic wokeness, and creating a level playing field for white Christians. He said he would do it, and he has. Mission accomplished.
C: What has he done wrong?
M: Apart from the tax cuts, almost everything. The tariffs–particularly the day-to-day uncertainty about them–are making it very difficult to do business. I can’t make any decisions about employment and investment until I know what the program is. The mass deportations, while they don’t impact me directly, are also bad for business. The BBB is blowing up the debt. The attacks on the Fed are scary. It’s hard to see many reasons for optimism here.
S: Of course you would say that. You’re a RINO.
C: Well, what would you say Trump got wrong?
S: The Iran attack was ok, but only as a one-off thing. I don’t want to get involved in wars in the Middle East. Selling weapons to Ukraine is inconsistent with America First. And now we have the Epstein thing. I’m not happy about that. The left-wing perverts and evil-doers need to be exposed, once and for all.
C: I assume you’re glad that Musk is gone?
S: Absolutely! I never trusted the guy, or any of his tech buddies. Trump used him to get the deep state under control and then got rid of him. That’s exactly what I wanted.
C: Inflation has ticked up again, largely due to the tariffs. How do you feel about that?
M: Awful. And it’s going to get a lot worse if Trump follows through with his letters.
S: I trust Trump. He says foreigners will pay the tariffs, so that’s what will happen.
M: Only an economic illiterate would say that. Tariffs are a tax on consumption ultimately paid by American consumers.
C: I think that’s enough for today.