Jon Lovett

Let's talk about tariffs.

Stock market right now, especially responsive to Trump's push and pull with China.

We saw last week he threatens new tariffs on China.

The Dow plunges 900 points, then bounces back the next Monday because he basically has a softer energy about it.

Lots of vibes based market movements these days.

Does that make you nervous?

Are you like, I want to talk about tariffs as a policy, but just in the way the markets have reacted to global tariffs that we haven't seen since the depression.

Have you been surprised by the lack of reaction?

So he does seem responsive to it.

And yet, not so responsive as to have a comprehensible policy.

You know, you have Besant, Scott Besant, Treasury Secretary, talking about how we need to rally Europe and our other economic partners to unite against China.

But how is that supposed to work when you spent the last nine months jerking everybody around?

It all seems idiotic, incomprehensible.

Is there anything beneath the surface that makes logic of it?

So but then it's like leverage towards what end, right?

Like if you really want it, like there's no coherence to what he's doing, right?

And that's what the tariffs over Europe does.

It gives him leverage to potentially, what, remove them so they'll work on China?

No, I know.

Yeah.