Bessent calls anti-tariff Reagan ad ‘psy-ops’ and says the U.S. rescue of Argentina still counts as ‘America first’ because it helps an ally | Fortune

All smoke and mirrors. The US military buildup on the Venezuelan border should be where we’re focusing right now. We are inching closer to an invasion every day. 

That’s kind of a reach, even if you argue that Argentina is a geopolitical ally.

All this recent bragging from Trump and his administration about his tariffs increasing federal revenue is utterly disingenuous.

Yes, when you tax imports, those taxes collect more money, shocker!

But that’s not even the point.

This revenue is a tiny fraction of what the government takes in and tariffs aren’t primarily meant for the purpose of raising revenue to begin with.

They’re mainly used for things like addressing trade imbalances, protecting domestic industries, and sometimes they are used as a form of economic sanction.

But the White House is bragging about revenue because Trump supporters can’t see the forest for the trees. The Trump administration knows that if it continues to boast about meager revenue gains, Trump supporters will instinctively latch onto the narrative that Trump’s policies are working. They’ll applaud him for a job well done without recognizing the deeper implications.

They don’t care about the broader economic implications and consequences of Trump’s tariffs, hell, they’re probably not even knowledgeable or informed enough to understand these nuances.

Bragging over tariff revenues is like raving about speeding tickets because they raise money.

But Trump’s trade and tariff policies are also impulsive, excessive, far too broad in scope, unpredictable, and sometimes even outright vindictive. The tariff rates that Trump introduced on “liberation day” also showed us that there really is no method to all the madness.

The White House can’t feasibly brag about things like correcting trade imbalances or protecting America’s industries because Trump’s trade policies and trade “deals” aren’t very strategic or well thought out to begin with.

On another note, we all know that Trump recently fired the BLS commissioner for releasing new data that heavily revised jobs figures for the months of May and June. These figures showed underlying economic problems which happened to coincide with other warnings. These revisions were part of the standard process of updating previously incomplete or partial economic figures as new data from employers comes in.

In other words, the revisions were a normal part of the process and did not indicate any explicit sign of manipulation. But Trump and his supporters allege of course that the BLS commissioner was some “deep state” stooge trying to sabotage Trump’s “perfect” economic record.

Her firing and replacement undermines the Trump Administration’s claims of “transparency” and gives investors good reason to not trust any future BLS reports.

With all of that said, the broader issues here have more to do with the chaotic nature of Trump’s tariffs and the economic consequences of across the board, historically very high tariff rates.

Trump’s unilateral and messy approach to trade policy also strains our economic and diplomatic relationships with trade partners and allies, e.g. the current situation.

There are also deeper concerns about how these tariffs will raise consumer prices—negating any meager revenue gains—while this increase in government revenue is coming straight out of the pockets of Americans. Which is precisely why Kamala Harris referred to Trump’s policies as a “national sales tax” during their debate.

It is well documented that tariffs, especially tariffs of this scale and figure, contribute to inflation and pass costs down to the consumer. It’s practically the only conservative economic policy that actually “trickles down.”

When the Trump administration brags about revenue as a benefit of its tariff policies, it’s ignoring the broader economic costs.

The government is neglecting the fact that these types of tariffs will and already *have* lead to consequences like inflationary pressures, retaliatory measures and trade wars that have economic ramifications for all those involved, higher input costs and the harm that they will do to exporters, world wide trade instability and escalating global tensions—especially if previous trade agreements are broken.

Trump’s tariffs can also disrupt the global supply chain and make domestic industries *less* efficient. While broad tariffs like these can actually *reduce* imports, which will cause revenue to *decrease.*

Combine these likely outcomes with the consequences of Trump’s signature “big beautiful bill,” and you get a recipe for even worse economic inequality. All roads lead to more wealth redistribution to the top, and an exploding debt and deficit, which aligns with what we’re already seeing.

Just like every other policy of this administration, Trump’s tariffs are strategically flawed, costly, reckless and politically motivated. Republicans want to push the narrative early on that Trump is succeeding, but any temporary gains in revenue are far outweighed by the economic damage that Trump’s tariffs will do to this country and even its neighbors.

The Trump administration truly is ushering in a new “gilded age.” The government is stacked with corporate cronies, Trump family financial associates, billionaires and plutocrats, members of special interest groups and right wing “think tanks,” some of Trump’s rich benefactors, and all of whom are monetizing and profiting off of the presidency.

And while Trump and his allies continue to enrich themselves, they have the audacity to claim that they are part of some right-wing populist movement. This isn’t populism, it’s kleptocratic authoritarianism. The Trump administration’s policies are lining the pockets of a small number of political and wealthy elites while the rest of Americans suffer from economic hardship.

A country is an ally if you have a formal signed mutual defense treaty with them.

Argentina is NOT an ally unless we’re planning to jump in and help them when they get pissy with the Brits about the Falklands again.

Britain IS an ally, sooooo.

It’s ridiculous how casually this term is bandied about by people who should know better.

They just don’t give a fuck at all. How long till the sky becomes green?

As with everything authoritarian, [thing] is what I say it is.

Lies, gaslighting and misinformation is ‘truth’ but playing a past president’s actual words is a psy-op. Argentina is filling the void of US soy beans to China, yet Canada and the US share NORAD, the only bi-national military command in the world. What the actual fuck is going on? The United States as we knew it is lost. 

Wouldn’t the best ally of the United States be its own citizens? The GOP doesn’t think so.

Bro, Canadian here and we’re an ally while we live under threat of annexation.

These guys are so two faced they have to be getting exhausted with all the mental gymnastics every week. 

It doesn’t even help Argentinians.

Americans not allies? Health care…food aid…education…

Lmao the mental gymnastics they perform are insane. Gold medal.

Argentina is where Nazis go when they lose power

Anyone ask him about all our other allies he’s actively fucking over. How America First is that?

Isn’t Canada an ally??

So when did Canada stop being an ally? I mean we montior the northern artic areas together and share many products and technologies. Nothing makes any sense anymore.

The mental gymnastics required for that statement…

“Because it helps an ally”

Then why did we tariff all our other allies into not wanting to associate with us anymore?

As a Canadian, I’m not exactly feeling this overflow of good will (billions of dollars) towards allies. Too bad we don’t share the kind of history that US shares with Argentina.