Trump took the US economy to the brink of a crisis in just 100 days

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CNN

—

Donald Trump spent his first 100 days back in the Oval Office driving an economy that the world envied to the brink of crisis, risking America’s reputation as a financial safe haven and fostering fear among voters who’ve lost confidence in his leadership.

Americans were desperate for relief from high grocery prices and bought into the Trump’s promise to make America affordable again in November 2024, partly out of nostalgia for the pre-pandemic economy of his first term.

But the president deliberately and singlehandedly adopted policies that are almost certain to spike prices even more; that could lead to shortages; and that have CEOs and small businesses dealing with chaos and the possibility of a recession.

Trump is attempting the most fundamental overhaul of the US and global economies in generations, adamant that he can recreate a mythical late 19th-century golden age using “beautiful” tariffs to exert US economic might to crush trade rivals.

But a president who has played golf while workers’ 401(k)s tanked has often looked indifferent to the growing concerns of Americans, from business titans to ordinary shoppers who are seeing the impact of his policies in real time over his first 100 days in office, which he will mark on Tuesday.Trillions of dollars have been wiped off stock markets. Airlines are cutting flights; top firms are trashing their own annual forecasts; some retailers have given up selling China-made goods in the US because of the tariffs. The International Monetary Fund cut US growth forecasts; the Federal Reserve says some businesses have stopped hiring; the CEO of Walmart told Trump his policies will seize up the supply chain by summer.

In a warning sign of a possible slide to a recession, consumer sentiment has plummeted and was in April at its fourth-lowest level since 1952. CNN’s Fear and Greed Index, a snapshot of emotion on the markets, has been registering “fear” or “extreme fear” for the last month.Relentlessly applying American power

Like much that Trump has done since returning to the Oval Office, his trade policy is legally and constitutionally questionable since he unilaterally declared a national emergency to unlock powers to wage tariff warfare.

He’s now wielding vast and unaccountable authority to test his lifelong theory that the United States, the world’s richest nation, has long been ripped off by every other country. His aim is to force foreign markets wide open for US products and to make manufacturers bring back factories and jobs to revive industrialized regions that have paid a heavy price for the globalization of trade. He insists that scores of nations are lining up to do US-friendly deals that will make Americans rich.

Millions of American jobs may depend on the outcome of his gamble.

Trump is putting into practice a core belief that is also at the center of his effort to dismantle the US-led Western political system that has prevailed and kept global peace for 80 years: That the United States — the mightiest world power — should not lead the world but should use its strength in one-on-one negotiations to coerce smaller nations into policies that benefit America and no one else. This principle, embedded in his “America first” approach, has already alienated many American allies — although that’s a feature rather than a bug for a president who sees life as a win-lose proposition.The president’s brittle temper and belief that he possesses a sharper economic mind than those whose job it is to protect employment and to fight inflation are also contributing to pushing the US economy to the brink.His attacks on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, for instance, have tarnished America’s brand as the rock of stability in the global economy. Trump has been demanding big interest-rate cuts even though many experts warn that this could hike inflation, which is already expected to rise because of his tariffs. Markets hated his interference — perhaps one reason why he’s toned down, at least for now, his threats to fire the central bank chief.

Trump is also escalating a dangerous showdown with China, launching full-on economic warfare with America’s 21st-century superpower rival, which has enormous geopolitical implications far beyond trading conditions.

“If you look at all of the years that I’ve been doing this, I’ve been right on things,” Trump told Time Magazine in an interview last week marking his first 100 days. “You’re going to have the wealthiest country we’ve ever had, and you’re going to have an explosion upward in the not-too-distant future.”

What is so remarkable about the gathering storm is that it’s not the product of business cycles, an outside economic shock, a terrorist attack, or an act of God like a pandemic or natural disaster. It’s all authored by an American president knowingly adopting tariff policies that almost all informed economic observers predict will lead to higher prices and slowed economic activity