Gavin Bade

It's all about maximizing Trump's political power over not just people in the United States, not just U.S. politicians, but the global economy as well.

It's all about maximizing Trump's political power over not just people in the United States, not just U.S. politicians, but the global economy as well.

The way to think about Trump's trade strategy here is an extension of his domestic political strategy. What is the one thing that Trump demands from politicians in the United States, from companies in the United States, from the people who work for him? It's loyalty.

The way to think about Trump's trade strategy here is an extension of his domestic political strategy. What is the one thing that Trump demands from politicians in the United States, from companies in the United States, from the people who work for him? It's loyalty.

We see him in his second term extending that logic to global economics and saying, look, if you want to do business with the U.S., you're going to do it on my terms. I am the alpha. You work for me. And really, he's trying to reshape every U.S. trading relationship at the same time using this strategy. And how is this hardball strategy playing out?

We see him in his second term extending that logic to global economics and saying, look, if you want to do business with the U.S., you're going to do it on my terms. I am the alpha. You work for me. And really, he's trying to reshape every U.S. trading relationship at the same time using this strategy. And how is this hardball strategy playing out?

This is really key to his thinking here is that he says we're the largest economy in the world, the largest consumer economy in the world as well, what he calls the big, beautiful store. And he thinks everyone else, which is not false, everyone else does want to sell into the United States. And so as much as anything else, he's using that consumer power in the United States as his leverage.

This is really key to his thinking here is that he says we're the largest economy in the world, the largest consumer economy in the world as well, what he calls the big, beautiful store. And he thinks everyone else, which is not false, everyone else does want to sell into the United States. And so as much as anything else, he's using that consumer power in the United States as his leverage.

and saying, if you want to sell into this country, you're going to have to eliminate trade barriers on U.S. goods. You're going to have to maybe spend more on the military. You're going to maybe have to limit your dealings with the Chinese economy. And he's really trying to drive a hard bargain when it comes to this stuff. There are some risks, for instance, in this strategy.

and saying, if you want to sell into this country, you're going to have to eliminate trade barriers on U.S. goods. You're going to have to maybe spend more on the military. You're going to maybe have to limit your dealings with the Chinese economy. And he's really trying to drive a hard bargain when it comes to this stuff. There are some risks, for instance, in this strategy.

The IMF and World Bank meetings were last week, and we were hearing some whispering among foreign officials that, well, maybe if Trump drives too hard of a bargain here, that they could team up together and try to present a united economic front to Trump and try to dictate the terms of the conversation themselves rather than just receiving them from the United States.

The IMF and World Bank meetings were last week, and we were hearing some whispering among foreign officials that, well, maybe if Trump drives too hard of a bargain here, that they could team up together and try to present a united economic front to Trump and try to dictate the terms of the conversation themselves rather than just receiving them from the United States.

Right now, Trump wants to keep everyone atomized, keep everyone negotiating with him on a bilateral basis rather than a multilateral basis. But don't be fooled. I mean, these countries are talking to each other behind the scenes, even if they won't publicly acknowledge it. Wall Street Journal reporter Gavin Bade. Gavin, good to have you. Thank you so much. Glad to be here.

Right now, Trump wants to keep everyone atomized, keep everyone negotiating with him on a bilateral basis rather than a multilateral basis. But don't be fooled. I mean, these countries are talking to each other behind the scenes, even if they won't publicly acknowledge it. Wall Street Journal reporter Gavin Bade. Gavin, good to have you. Thank you so much. Glad to be here.

This is only the first or second salvo of this trade war. We have a whole handful of tariffs coming up next month.

This is only the first or second salvo of this trade war. We have a whole handful of tariffs coming up next month.

They are quite exposed right now. I mean, the U.S. is the biggest export market for both Mexico and Canada. So this is all battle stations right now. This is a pretty big economic shock to the entire North American economy, the U.S. included.

They are quite exposed right now. I mean, the U.S. is the biggest export market for both Mexico and Canada. So this is all battle stations right now. This is a pretty big economic shock to the entire North American economy, the U.S. included.

Meistens nur, dass sie das weiter kämpfen werden, bis die Fentanyl-Toten runterkommen. Ich meine, es ist sehr schwierig zu wissen, was Trump genau will, um diese Tarife zu lösen. Ich habe gerade mit Senator Bill Hagerty hier im Senat gesprochen, einer von Trumps naheliegendsten Allies. If these tariffs go away, do we have any idea what the effect might be?

Meistens nur, dass sie das weiter kämpfen werden, bis die Fentanyl-Toten runterkommen. Ich meine, es ist sehr schwierig zu wissen, was Trump genau will, um diese Tarife zu lösen. Ich habe gerade mit Senator Bill Hagerty hier im Senat gesprochen, einer von Trumps naheliegendsten Allies. If these tariffs go away, do we have any idea what the effect might be?