Rose Garden

Thursday

Freddy Gray

So long, Elon?

What with all the Rose Garden theatrics of “Liberation Day” and Donald Trump’s wild decision to tariff most of Planet Earth at once, Politico’s big “Musk will leave” scoop quickly sank down the news agenda. That’s partly because it wasn’t really a scoop at all. Elon Musk has said repeatedly that his role in the White House is only temporary. His status as a “special government employee,” which exempts him from some ethics and conflict-of-interest rules, is only meant to last 130 days and so his contract, such as it is, is likely to expire in late May or early June. Musk confirmed to Fox News last week that he was not in government for the long term while President Trump told reporters on Monday: “I think he’s amazing, but he’s got a big company to run...

Roger Kimball

Give Trump’s tariffs a shot

So the big question is: will it work? Will Trump’s protectionist policies, announced with some fanfare at a Rose Garden event at the White House yesterday, increase American prosperity? Or will they harm the economy?  Opinion on that matter is sharply divided. In one corner we have the free traders. They are wringing their hands and warning about higher prices, disruption of international trade and a trade war no one can win.  In the other corner are – what to call them? Most are not “anti-free traders” or “economic protectionists” (though some are).  Let’s call them “fair traders.” They like the idea of free trade – in theory. What they don’t like is the ethic of “free trade for thee but not for me.