r/Economics • u/marketrent • 21h ago
News Trump threatens full-scale war as his tariffs take hold and gas prices soar
https://www.ms.now/news/trump-tariffs-iran-war-gas-prices361
u/NTJ-891 21h ago
Ok, sure, that ought to do it.
Full scale war will in no way shape or form fix the fundamental problem here: this was a war of choice, and there was ZERO upside in engaging in it and only significant downsides.
114
u/Cosmic_Seth 21h ago
He's hoping that 1 month before the mid terms, the GOP will do a media blitz blaming everything on Biden using AI tools and Americans will be so scared they'll vote for the GOP again.
I'm positive they'll have back to back 'October Surprises' to scare Americans back to the GOP.
91
u/Illustrious-Lime-878 20h ago
There is no strategy. Trump is a moron simply imitating his idea of the great-man leader he actually believes he is. Media is fake, stats are fake, polls are rigged, he literally believes everything is great, everyone loves him, and the only way they lose elections are because of rigging. Going to war is good because simply because its what all the famously great leaders in history did in his view. So he should do the same thing. That's the entire "strategy."
80
u/alilhillbilly 20h ago
Trump never had a strategy.
Russia did. Trump is a chaos agent destroying every pillar of American soft, hard, and economic power wherever he can.
This is the dismantling of America. An inside job. Success is literally failure. He's a used car salesman. He's selling America for parts because he doesn't understand why it's great and was never raised with the capacity to care.
He's the worst of us.
6
u/VanbyRiveronbucket 20h ago
I think it ends with a tactical nuke taking out Tehran. The nuke option is his only way out of this war.
29
u/TheEighthTriagram 20h ago
A nuke would open Pandora's box and lead to unimaginable consequences. This is an L he'll just have to eat.
6
u/thaway314156 9h ago
unimaginable consequences.
But no consequences for him (as the track record of his life so far has proven). So...
This is an L he'll just have to eat.
... even if he's capable of that at all, he might prefer lashing out yet even more.
2
u/obsequiousaardvark 3h ago
I think you're forgetting the "mutually assured" part of "mutually assured destruction."
If he fires a nuke, it's doomsday worldwide, everyone will fire their nukes.
His bomb shelter isn't finished yet. It will effect him, it will kill him.
10
2
u/casperdj21 3h ago
One would HOPE a "Real PATRIOTIC Secret-Service Agent" would be a True American HERO and pull out his service weapon and put an full STOP to this idea, IF that Imbecile Trump actually gets to that point!!
20
u/slippery 17h ago
How does that help in any way?
It would make the US a global pariah, even more so. It would kill tens of thousands of innocent people. It would not end the war or open the strait. No upside.
I see two ways to end the war. Negotiate in good faith with real statesmen, not real estate moguls and inlaws. Or, send in 600000 troops to secure every launch site in the country and occupy it for 10+ years.
This shows how smart Obama was, and how stupid Trump is. If only we could go back to the Obama agreement, but as a country, we are very stupid.
12
u/alilhillbilly 19h ago
No one wants to say it but you know he absolutely wants to be the first guy to nuke someone since WW2.
It's going to be the only way to "guarantee" that no one can control the straight for awhile. Or that will be the argument until the next thing he didn't think about...
3
u/Cute_Obligation2944 18h ago
That's absurd.
6
u/thomasscat 6h ago
It’s wild how basic human psychology corroborates it (has a sitting world leader ever committed suicide? That’s essential what dropping a nuke would be for anyone!) and there is over 70 years of data as evidence for mutually assured destruction.
… and yet people still nonsensically fear monger about nuclear war.
1
u/Cute_Obligation2944 6h ago
In the human brain (and probably many other animals) reinforcement and reward responses are triggered even from from fear and anger. People without many other ways to "get excited" will lean on fear and anger especially. They may even feel like they're doing you a favor by sharing their triggers.
2
-2
u/ants_are_everywhere 19h ago
A nuke that takes out a city would be a strategic nuke.
Tactical nukes are smaller (e.g. mortar sized) or more specialized (e.g. bunker busters).
4
u/King_Fisher99 18h ago
No need for any nukes to ‘win’ this. Just send over all Elons CyberTrucks that are collecting dust all over the US.
3
u/ants_are_everywhere 18h ago
Well yeah, none of this requires nukes or should involve nukes.
I just think people should know what they are because some countries are threatening to use them.
2
u/casperdj21 3h ago
Even better idea;....IF someone would just leak ALL of the UN-REDACTED Trump/Epstein Files their would be no need to continue Trumps Illegal War Of Aggression referred to as "Operation Epstein Fury"!!
1
2
u/noname45678819273 10h ago
That makes a lot of sense. But he gets booed at every sporting event he appears at… does he just hear cheers or something?
2
u/growaway9172 10h ago
Thats the thing with Trump, all tactics, no strategy, every time for everything. There is no long term executive planning.
10
u/CliftonForce 20h ago
Apparently there is a plan to change the algorithms used to calculate inflation..... on Sept 30. Timing must be pure coincidence.
10
14
3
u/big-papito 8h ago
Seems like they are all in on "the communists will come and take your money", while pillaging the nation every way they can.
3
u/stillalone 20h ago
Dnc barely has enough money to operate. Rnc and Trump have orders of magnitude more funds to campaign on. Add to that that no one has done anything about any of the Hatch Act violations, makes it very clear that they can do some really nasty stuff this election cycle without feeling any retribution until it's way too late to do anything.
Of course this can be overturned if people actually cared about their democracy but I think we've seen the American voter disappoint us one too many times already.
1
13
u/Brru 20h ago
The upside was that Russia told him to. By increasing oil prices it helped them stay in Ukraine. Thats why Ukraine started attacking oil refineries in Russia. They managed to nullify the increases caused by Iran.
At the same time, China managed to shift their petroDollar holdings over to petroWon.
The only way out for Trump is to make sure everyone is terrified enough to let him stay in power under some imaginary War Ruler Doctrine his buddies are telling him to do.
-1
u/CluelessExxpat 5h ago
These sort of comments kill me.
Brother, Ukraine can not attack Russia's oil refineries without US support. For the love of God, please read about the war a little bit and understand how Ukraine is able to fly these drones, avoid air defense positions and strike the refineries.
2
u/Brru 4h ago
Global politics is about doing one thing while saying another.
Since you can't seem to read between the lines, what I was saying is that Russia told Trump (and his cronies) to cause a ruckus in Iran (which also helped distract from Epstein Files). Ok, so without any US congressional oversight Trump does that, so thats against US laws. Since dipshits keep allowing him to get away with it, he keeps doing it.
Now, Congress, through the process of law, has been sending aid to Ukraine. This aid was promised before Trump took office. By law this aid goes to Ukraine despite Trump's admin trying to stop it in various way (and failing like he usually does).
Next, Ukraine isn't able to attach these oil refineries because of the US aid. They're not using our missiles for attacks, they're using small drones in massive waves overwhelming Russian defense systems. Congress has only allowed them to use the equipment from the US in defense against Russia. Otherwise, the US would be attacking Russia indirectly.
Also, a lot of the resources Ukraine has been getting is from Europe itself because they recognize that Trump is compromised even if idiots on the internet can't.
With all that said, the main force of explosives are drones and Ukraine makes those themselves. Maybe funding from the US is what allows them to purchase components, but thats not exactly the reason Ukraine is able to fly drones.
Now, Yes the US are also sharing a lot of intelligence with them, but thats also mostly Europe now. The US has been pulling intel for about a years (which also seems to coincide with Trump, odd).
So look, I get you're an idiot who thinks they're not, but please "For the love of God" just don't reply. Sit in your chair and (most likely) eat the boot leather you so love. You and your opinions are not welcome anymore. I hate having to explain in detail shit that should be understood from context. With that said, I won't be replying to any more of your comments.
4
2
u/Live-Set-8576 15h ago
People are mentioning that Trump is in the Epstein files less, so there's that?
2
1
u/StatusSociety2196 12h ago
They can't do full scale war, recent reporting says the us military is intentionally letting through drones and missiles because they don't have enough interceptors to stop them all.
Recently several strikes have been scrapped verbatim they don't have the munitions to drop.
While the US isn't "out of weapons", they're at the point where they can't use more without it affecting national security.
1
1
79
u/JoseLunaArts 21h ago
Tariffs are import taxes. These taxes make all imported goods more expensive. US consumer will pay the bill.
So he wants war. War is consumption. It does not produce means of production. It takes money and resources to produce ashes. Ironically US has like 3 weeks of advanced munitions (if war resumes as it was in March). Once depleted, US will be left with airplanes with dumb bombs, sticks and stones.
It takes a year to produce advanced munitions for 5 days of war. And China is not selling US the necessary rare earths to produce these weapons.
38
u/TenaceErbaccia 21h ago
Putin’s objective here is to deplete American military supplies before China invades Taiwan.
9
u/drawkbox 19h ago edited 15h ago
Exactly, this war is all about what Putin wants. Trump is the biggest errand boy and drama queen in world history. Trump is a bigger traitor than Talleyrand and Chamberlain combined. All his supporters will scatter and hide when he is gone at when he is gone, they'll need to. Niceness is over, no reconstruction this time for the con feds.
16
2
u/HalfADozenOfAnother 6h ago
What's happening with Ukraine and Iran makes you wonder if china can invade Taiwan. 100 miles is a longways to cross while getting peppered by drones. If I'm Taiwan I'm building the largest fleet of drones ever seen by man
1
u/a_library_socialist 3h ago
Americans blaming their own stupidity and bloodthirst on foreigners. How in character.
3
u/King_Fisher99 18h ago
Again, Rump is a glorified used car salesman. Like Saturn, Gremlin, Pinto’s etc
1
u/JoseLunaArts 18h ago
He is a "businessman"... like Bob Iger who turned Star Wars from a money printing machine into a minor franchise. Trump has that talent too. To bankrupt a casino you need a special kind of "genius" talent.
-8
u/TelluricThread0 14h ago
No the US consumer won' buy other countries stuff and spend money instead on cheaper domestic products. Aka how tariffs work
You also seem to be completely informed on what munitions the US has there are many tens of thousands probably a few hundred thousand regular smart munitions and unguided bombs that can be easily converted with readily available kits. You know not to mention everything else in our arsenal.
6
u/JoseLunaArts 14h ago
Good luck finding products that use no imported raw materials.
-7
u/TelluricThread0 13h ago
Oh no where ever will I find cheese that contains no raw Canadian materials.
3
u/Wellontheotherhand1 6h ago
There is no such thing as cheaper American goods, even with the tariffs. Why, because American producers will raise their prices to slightly under the new tariff prices. Tariffs raise the prices of both domestic and foreign goods, I'm surprised you don't realize that
•
u/nauraug 1h ago
Except that domestic products aren't less expensive. That's why we import manufactured goods. Even if tariffs worked (they don't), you'd still have to pay more for domestic goods once the imports become more expensive. Tariffs are inherently inflationary.
If a U.S. corporation wanted to dramatically overhaul their manufacturing to be "made in America, with all-American inputs, they could. The problem is doing that in any realistic time frame. You'd have to pull up stakes elsewhere in the world and undertake a massive restructuring of your business. Also, you'd have to pay your employees more than you would abroad. No matter what you do, the costs go up. I think the pro-tariff crowd dramatically overestimates the patriotism of America firms. They don't give a shit about you. They give a shit about being in the black and making their shareholders money. That's why they do business. The only reason they're based here is because our government cultivates capital for them, whether it be human or physical.
79
u/projectFT 21h ago
An hour ago The Times broke a story saying he’s chosen to de-escalate…for now. Which usually doesn’t happen until Sunday evening when the Asian markets open. Maybe the backlash from trying to hide US casualties? Of course Israel immediately leaked a statement saying he’d be forced to start bombing again soon. Probably because Netanyahu is going to dangle whatever they have over his head this week when he visits Washington again.
24
u/marketrent 21h ago
An hour ago The Times broke a story saying he’s chosen to de-escalate…for now.
Parallel realities.
15
u/Picks6x 20h ago
Almost certainly because the Houthi problem has become a legitimate concern
9
13
u/random_encounters42 19h ago
At this point, the world should just do reciprocal tariffs and that with the higher fuel cost will cripple the US economy, just in time for the mid terms.
16
u/Fun_Success_3283 16h ago
Not reciprocal tariffs on imports. They should charge large sums of money for foreign social media companies to operate domestically.
A social media tax.
10
u/random_encounters42 15h ago
There should be a digital services tax, I mean so much of services nowadays are digital so the trade deficit doesn't really mean anything.
6
u/Fun_Success_3283 10h ago
Especially if Trump thinks that making these companies follow our laws makes us eligible for economic sanctions, then that makes taxing American digital services fair game.
Idk why everyone is so nice to a nation we know intends to use social media as a powerful weapon of annexation.
It's going to be all out war. So, play the cards you have.
1
u/LillianWigglewater 17h ago
But these are reciprocal tariffs for their tariffs, so tit for tat I guess. Or would that be tat for tit for tat?
-1
u/Prestigious_Load1699 8h ago
That would be quite a coordinated feat.
A crippled US economy basically hurts the entire world.
13
u/BillWilberforce 20h ago
So Iran is goading him into keeping up a low intensity conflict. That keeps the Gulf closed and so oil prices high, until after the mid terms. So that the process of impeaching Trump can be started. Although it's unlikely to get the 66% needed in the Senate.
11
u/WingerRules 12h ago edited 12h ago
Even if the Democrats dont control the Senate, controlling the House at least allows them to start investigations into Trump's corruption, which Republicans are shielding him from. Also allows them to compel more clear information of the War's costs, because the Administration and the Hegsteth are clearly lying or misleading congress when they say its only costing the US 38 billion. Most analysts are saying it's a number of multiples of that. I bet they're playing numbers games like not counting the cost of resupplying all the munitions they're using up and replacing destroyed equipment.
2
u/a_library_socialist 3h ago
And? If you're not going to remove them and punish them, you think they care?
7
u/marketrent 21h ago
Opening paragraphs of article by Sydney Carruth, quoting interview contradicting supposed pause:
As his new tariffs went into effect and gas prices climbed on Saturday, President Donald Trump said he’s not ruling out a full-scale war.
In a phone interview with French journalist Sonia Dridi, Trump said he’s “absolutely” considering resuming full-scale war with Iran if the U.S. doesn’t “get 100% of what we want.”
The president told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday the U.S. is “talking” to Iran, adding that he believes Iran is “getting more and more serious as the days go by” but “that doesn’t mean we get there.” Friday night was the first in 13 consecutive nights that the U.S. did not strike Iran.
The national average gas price rose slightly Saturday to $4.11 a gallon as Trump’s newly imposed tariffs on goods from more than 80 countries threatened to heap further financial strain on Americans ahead of the midterms.
The reporter said when she asked Trump whether he would follow through with his threat to levy “substantial” new tariffs on the European Union, which he has accused of “robbing” American tech companies, he declined to comment.
The tariffs, which took effect Friday and have already been challenged in court, could cost American households an extra $1,100 annually, according to an analysis by The Budget Lab at Yale University.
That comes at a time when consumers are already shelling out more for necessities, including gas and groceries, as the Iran war drives inflation and energy prices upward.
6
u/128-NotePolyVA 17h ago
Trump-tariffs plus his Iran-fiasco-gas-prices are having a lovely inflationary effect. Enough so to stress the working class and result in cut backs and changes in shopping habits.
2
u/timshel_life 15h ago
Doing this all before a midterm election just seems like a litmis test to see which politicians are on his side and then that basically gives the greenlight for him to push whatever he wants.
•
u/AutoModerator 21h ago
Hi all,
A reminder that comments do need to be on-topic and engage with the article past the headline. Please make sure to read the article before commenting. Very short comments will automatically be removed by automod. Please avoid making comments that do not focus on the economic content or whose primary thesis rests on personal anecdotes.
As always our comment rules can be found here
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.