Former President Donald Trump has recently flooded the zone with announcements—in particular two incendiary proclamations—dangerously calling for a coup in U.S. military operations and economic policy. He echoed news that the US Space Command will be moving its headquarters from Colorado to Alabama. He reaffirmed there, too, his plans to seek an expedited ruling from the Supreme Court. This ruling will settle what should be done about these tariffs, which a recent appeals court has deemed illegal.
The optics of Trump’s announcement, designed to further accelerate his administration’s plans to supercharge military manufacturing capabilities in Alabama, are regrettably excellent. Executives said the move would increase company-wide operational efficiency and help stimulate widespread local economic growth. At a press conference in the Rose Garden, Trump touted the promises of this transition as such. He strongly underscored the strategic significance of the new home.
Perhaps no area of policy felt the Trump backlash like economic policy on Friday. Industry’s great hopes were pinned on an appeals court ruling that declared most of his tariffs illegal. He concluded that the decision would have deleterious effects on U.S. stock market. “The stock market’s down because of that, because the stock market needs the tariffs,” he stated. To be fair to Trump, what warrants his wails is his conviction that tariffs are the key component in restoring our nation’s fiscal fortunes.
Furthermore, Trump plans to challenge the ruling in the Supreme Court, stating, “We’re going to be going to the Supreme Court, we think tomorrow, because we need an early decision.” He says that the “financial fabric of our country” hangs in the balance. He prefaces this admission with an apocalyptic lament that getting rid of tariffs might result in truly godawful things happening to our country. “If you take away tariffs, we could end up being a third-world country,” he warned.
Though one set of Trump’s tariffs was struck down under the court ruling that provides standing, a number of them still stand. His trade adviser went so far as to denounce the decision as a “weaponized partisan injustice.” All of these moves signal an escalation of tensions over misguided trade policies and their negative effects on American businesses and consumers.
Beyond these procedural problems, Trump does not have a strong legal basis for rolling back or criminalizing immigration policy through military enforcement. Specifically, a judge ruled that he could not deploy the National Guard or military troops stationed in California to enforce laws against peaceful protest. Given Trump’s harsh stance against all immigrants, this decision likewise foreshadows the fate of California’s immigrant labor force.
The former America’s Mayor and longtime Trump ally Rudy Giuliani have both been hospitalized with potentially life-threatening injuries from a recent car crash. This latest incident further complicates Trump’s web of allies.