Bankruptcies, bogus universities, and fraudulent charities aside, Donald Trump has managed to stay afloat with a business style that would make John Gotti, Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky, Frank Abagnale, Sam Bankman-Fried, and Charles Ponzi, envious. His latest long-con is his tariff-bitcoin scheme. While selling it to the American-gullible as a sincere effort to bring back American manufacturing jobs, his motivations are far less altruistic.
Most people who understand economics easily saw this tariff ploy as a shift of the tax burden from the very wealthy to those who regularly consume the products involved. The less obvious part of Trump controlling the threat of tariffs is his bitcoin business. By opening and closing the tariff-revenue spigot, he has a bargaining tool. MAGA supporters will claim that he is negotiating better business deals with his tariff threats. In that they are partially correct. The only problem is that is that the business that is really benefitting is not the nation’s business, it is the Trump Empire.
His recent bitcoin auction brought in a ton of cash to the Trump coffers from both domestic and international entities seeking favor from the Tariff-Meister. As someone who can, with the stroke of a pen, make or break the fortunes of many, he has placed himself in an enviable financial position. A tariff increased here, or a tariff cut there, or an industry specific tariff properly positioned, can be a powerful weapon. The shadowy world of untraceable bitcoins is a bonanza for a businessman with the scruples of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos.
His recent threat to put a tariff on movies made outside America is another ploy to tax a business he doesn’t like. Meanwhile, his family is using his name (that carries the threat of tariffs just as if Trump were present) to build golf courses and acquire real estate in foreign lands that would not be subject to the same “Buy America” burden.
President Trump reminds me of a political character from my childhood, Phineas T. Bluster. Phineas was the mayor of Doodyville. Phineas was a pompous ass and the self-important antagonist on the Howdy Doody Show. He was always scheming against Howdy Doody and his friends. Phineas was known for his wild exaggerated expressions, grand speeches, and his obsession with power. He was a grumpy, greedy businessman who wanted to rule Doodyville like a true authoritarian. If that description of a marionette with strings attached doesn’t elicit someone else in the modern spotlight, you may lack the imagination gene.
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