Be Outraged with Me: Tariffs, Free Speech and Security

President Trump keeps perpetrating outrages at a furious rate: this week, it was extreme volatility—and uncertainty— on tariffs that might raise prices, crush markets and savings, cost jobs and alienate allies and perhaps bring on a recession; new threats to free speech, and firing of top national security officials on the say-so of a wild conspiracist.

We’ll get into all of that in this installment of Post Alley’s Trump Outrage Watch but first let’s consider what some wise observers have to say about what Trumpism represents historically, philosophically and culturally. Bottom line, it’s the destruction of America as a free society.

One of the best historians we have is Robert Kagan, a former Republican—a State Department official under Ronald Reagan and foreign policy adviser to John McCain—who left the party when it was taken over by Trump.

He’s a Brookings Institution scholar, a staff writer for the Atlantic and author of nine books, the latest of which is “Rebellion: How Anti-liberalism is Tearing America Apart—Again.”

He identifies liberalism not with the contemporary left, but with the principles of the Enlightenment, John Locke, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, Abraham Lincoln and the dominant politics in America from Theodore Roosevelt through Joe Biden.

Among its principles are the equal dignity of all humans, democratic governance, freedom of speech, respect for the rule of law and free exercise of religion or no religion.

Illiberalism or anti-liberalism, he writes, has been the prevailing system of governance for most of human history under kings, generals, oligarchs, dictators and theocrats. Donald Trump is their heir as were Puritans, slaveholders, Confederates, Klansmen, John Birchers, Dixiecrats, Nazi sympathizers, Joseph McCarthy, George Wallace, Pat Buchanan, the Tea Party movement, white supremacist militias, homophobes, misogynists, MAGA Republicans and Christian Nationalists.

Kagan acknowledges that there are anti-liberals on the left as well as right—as in attacks on free speech on college campuses and in social media—but he thinks Trump and Trumpism is the dominant danger to liberal democracy. Trump has no respect for the rule of law or democracy, as his effort to overthrow the 2020 election attests. His “birther” attack on Obama proves he’s a racist. His record of sexual assaults and the Access Hollywood tape show he’s at heart a misogynist. And his contempt toward democratic allies and affinity toward “strong man” rulers like Vladimir Putin, Hungary’s Viktor Orban and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu shows he’s an authoritarian. Kagan was one of the first commentators, in 2016, to use the word “fascism” about Trump.

Kagan thinks that the most important dividing line in American politics is not education or class, but race. Trump won 57 percent of all white votes in 2024. He won 60 percent of white men, 53 percent of white women, 72 percent of white Protestants, 63 percent of white Catholics and 82 percent of white evangelicals. Numerous studies have shown that “racial resentment” —the notion that blacks’ lower incomes are the result of lack of effort rather than discrimination—is a significant characteristic of conservatism, more important than education or income.

Not having graduated from college does correlate with supporting Trump, however. In 2024, 56 percent of non-college graduates supported Trump as did 66 percent of white non-graduates. Majorities of college graduates, including white graduates, voted for Kamala Harris.

But Trump also received significant support from conservative intellectuals and policy experts such as contributors to Project 2025, the 900-page policy document prepared for Trump by representatives of more than 100 organizations and overseen by the Heritage Foundation. During the presidential campaign, Trump denied any connection to Project 2025, but many of its recommendations are now administration policy.

Besides enlarging presidential power and calling for eliminating the Department of Education and its Title 1 low-income assistance programs and  measures to combat climate change, Project 2025 contained social and cultural recommendations—reversing legalization of same-sex marriages, limiting LGBTQ and transgender civil rights protections, removal of trans persons from the US military  and fostering “Biblically based” family structures: a heterosexual couple and the children they conceive, with the implication that the father will hold the leadership role and his wife will support him.

The project also criticizes “over-emphasis” on higher education as a cause of delayed marriages and childbearing, resulting in the nation’s low birth rate. Encouraging legal immigration could make up for the shortfall, but Project 2025 calls for measures to restrict both illegal and legal immigration.

The social policies advocated by 2025 and adopted by the Trump administration, closely resemble those prevailing in authoritarian regimes including Russia, Hungary and Turkey. Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orban describe themselves as guardians of Christian values (as Turkey’s Recep Erdogan does of Muslim values) as opposed to those of the “decadent” West.

Another liberal-minded conservative Trump critic, New York Times columnist David French, argues that Trump is doing long-term damage to the country. His treatment of Ukraine and affinity toward Putin, French argues, will cause allies to permanently doubt America’s reliability. Even if Democrats return to power, he’s written, “our allies will know that our alliances are only as stable as the next presidential election—and promises are good only for one term (at most).”

And similarly with domestic policy: “a nation cannot effectively serve its people if it guts and rebuilds its civil service every four years.” Moreover, Trump “is attempting to upend the structure of the American government to place the president at the unquestioned pinnacle of American power…We are learning why the Founders did not want the president to reign supreme.”

So much for history lessons. Now for this week’s outrages:

1. Trump’s tariffs: Smoot-Hawley Redux?

Trump’s new tariffs on all the world’s nations (except Russia and North Korea) and uncertainty about what’s to come crushed markets for four days resulting in more than $6 trillion in lost wealth including that of the 54 percent of American households invested in 401k and IRAs.

On Wednesday, though, markets surged after Trump announced a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariff increases citing talks with various nations. After plunging for four days, market indexes scored some of their greatest increases ever, restoring $5.8 trillion in value after losses of $6.6 trillion. The Nasdaq was up 12 percent, the S&P 500, 9.5 percent, and Dow Industrials, 7.9 percent.  However, Trump increased tariffs on China to 125 percent after China increased tariffs on the US to 84 percent. And the European Union announced 25 percent tariffs on US goods in retaliation for tariffs on aluminum and steel, though the EU said it was open to negotiations.

Most economists not wedded to Trump or working for him think prices and inflation rates will rise if Trump restores tariff increases after 90 days—giving the lie to one of Trump’s key campaign promises—and so will unemployment rates and small business bankruptcies. JP Morgan Chase estimated chances of a recession at 60 percent and Deutsche Bank predicted a 1 percent to 1.5 percent lower US growth rate for 2026.

More importantly, Trump seems to be destroying the free trade system that has made the US the leading economy (and leading nation) in the world. As Fareed Zakaria wrote in the Washington Post last week, Trump is just dead wrong to charge that “our country and its taxpayers have been ripped off for the last 50 years,” resulting in empty factories, unemployed workers and stagnant wages.

Zakaria said that “the poorest American state, Mississippi, has a higher GDP per capita than Britain, France or Japan.” (Zakaria did not take account of mal-distribution of incomes and wealth: the top 1 percent of earners make 26 percent of US incomes and possess 32 percent of the nation’s wealth—and the disparities get wider every year. Under Trump, the disparities will accelerate: 80 percent of his 2019 tax cuts went to corporations and high-income individuals. He now wants to make those cuts permanent. Moreover, his tariffs could raise prices hitting lower-income families harder than wealthy ones.)

The US has a trade deficit with the rest of the world in manufactured goods ($1.2 trillion)  but Zakaria writes that the US has a large surplus ($300 billion) in services, exporting software, movies, music, banking and law to the world. He also predicts that Trump’s high tariffs could impel countries to reach trade agreements with countries other than the US—China, especially, and perhaps endanger the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency.

Trump administration officials claim that since Trump announced his tariff plans, 75 countries have asked the US to commence trade negotiations to lower tariff levels. That leaves 70 who have not asked for talks and some large ones—China, the European Union, Canada, Mexico, Japan and South Korea—are planning or implementing retaliatory tariff increases on US products. China has already implemented 84 percent tariffs. A world-wide trade war seems in the offing which will be lose-lose for everyone, as was the Smoot-Hawley tariffs which deepened the Great Depression of the 1930s.

At the moment, it’s also costing Trump politically: his job overall approval rating has fallen to 43 percent in the latest Reuters-Ipsos poll and to 37 percent on his handling of the economy. Fifty-two percent said his tariffs would do more harm than good. The tariffs also have been criticized by Trump’s sidekick, Elon Musk, and Republican Senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul. Sen. Chuck Grassley, along with Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell, has introduced legislation to reclaim Congressional influence on tariffs. In a CNBC poll of CEOs, 69 percent predicted the tariffs would trigger a recession. The network’s website headlined a quote from one CEO: “This is the Trump recession.” Cruz said that a recession would produce a “bloodbath” for Republicans in 2026.

2. Trump’s Threats to free speech

In his address to a Joint Session of Congress, Trump claimed that he had “brought free speech back to America.” But his actions have had the exact opposite effect.

New York Times reporters last month combed through 5,000 pages of government memos and discovered that various agencies had advised or directed that some 180 words were not to be used in official publications. Words like “antiracist,” “Black,” “female,” “privilege,” “disparity,” “minority,” and “underserved.” (Note the absence of “male” or “white.”)

These reflect obedience to Trump’s war on “woke” or Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs mounted in recent years by both government and private entities to employ more minorities on the (correct) theory that diversity of viewpoints and backgrounds improves a group’s creativity.

Some studies do show that DEI programs are unproductive and divisive, creating racial resentments instead of inclusion. And that it’s better to have diverse groups work together to solve problems. But Trump’s jihad against DEI also smacks of racism in as much as officials claim it interferes with “merit.”

Other discouraged words—“clean energy” and “climate crisis,” “trans,” “LGBTQ” and “assigned at birth,” and “Gulf of Mexico” relate to other Trump fixations.

Universities and pro-Palestinian activists have been special targets of investigation, arrest and deportation. The Department of Education sent letters to 60 universities that it said were under investigation—and could lose federal funding—for not adequately protecting Jewish students from antisemitism. Five universities were under intense investigation—Columbia, Northwestern Portland State, University of California Berkeley and the University of Minnesota. The government cancelled grants to Columbia totaling $400 million until the university reached a settlement.

Antisemitic violence and harassment obviously are unacceptable, but it’s not clear what the government’s standards are or whether withdrawing medical research grants is the proper remedy. The arrest of Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalili and withdrawal of his Green Card and that of Tufts University doctoral student Rumeysa Oztura and cancellation of her student visa suggest that mere condemnation of Israeli atrocities in Gaza—that is, speech—may be the standard.

Meantime, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, Ed Martin, also demanded to know whether Georgetown University Law School had removed DEI materials from its curriculum.

And, the Federal Communications Commission forced the Disney organization to cut back its diversity hiring practices, with Chairman Brendan Carr charging they might (ironically) violate government anti-discrimination laws. The FCC also has begun investigations of Comcast, NBC and ABC over its DEI programs.

Trump has commanded the Smithsonian Institution to feature only “American greatness” in exhibits instead of exploring the downsides of US history, too.

The National Park Service removed a picture and quotes of Harriet Tubman from its webpage on the Underground Railway but restored them after public complaints. During his first administration, Trump “delayed” Barack Obama’s plans to feature Tubman, who rescued hundreds of slaves and served as a Union spy, on the $20 bill, replacing Trump favorite Andrew Jackson.

Trump’s efforts to punish law firms that have represented clients opposing him continued to rile the legal profession and raise major Constitutional issues. Trump and his administration face more than 100 lawsuits and his orders punishing firms filing “frivolous” or “vexatious” suits or suits he deems not in the “national interest” could well prevent any but the most courageous (and well-heeled) firms from challenging administration policies.

Seattle firm Perkins Coie, which represented the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016, had its security clearance cancelled, its lawyers were barred from entering federal buildings (including courthouses) and federal contractors represented by the firm were required to identify themselves. Perkins and similarly-targeted firms, DC-based Wilmer Hale, which formerly employed Robert Mueller, and the Chicago firm, Jenner and Block, which once employed a member of Mueller’s team investigating Trump’s alleged connections with Russia have won restraining orders against the government. But four other firms, notably the New York-based Paul Weiss, have struck deals with the government requiring them to contribute a total of $340 million in free legal work to entities including conservative organizations.

In addition, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sent letters to 20 law firms demanding information about their employment practices, suggesting it may target firms with DEI policies.

3. Undermining National Security

The Trump administration has been purging the Defense Department of top generals and admirals, mostly because they were deemed to be dedicated to diversity in recruitment and promotion and not “aggressive war fighting,” as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth put it.

Hegseth, a decorated combat officer (and a Fox News host) lacks any experience running any large organization, let alone the Defense Department, the largest enterprise in the world, with 2.85 million military and civilian personnel and a $1 trillion budget.

The top official to be fired, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Charles Q. Brown, a combat fighter pilot, had been named as the first African-American Air Force Chief of Staff by Trump in 2020. Hegseth implied that Brown may have been appointed because of his race and said he was involved in “DEI woke shit and had to go.” Also fired was Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to serve as Chief of Naval Operations, who was in the process of developing robotic weapons to deter a Chinese attack on Taiwan. But she was also deemed a DEI advocate and is, obviously, a woman. One of the first fired was Adm. Linda Fagan, commandant of the Coast Guard and the first woman to head a military branch. Her dismissal was followed by that of Lt. Gen. Jennifer Short, principal military advisor to the Defense Secretary. On Wednesday, another woman was fired: Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, US representative on the NATO military committee, who said in a 2015 speech that “our diversity is our strength,” a statement denounced by Hegseth as “the single dumbest” in military history. Her  firing led Democratic Sens. Jack Reed and Mark Warner to denounce the imposition of  “political loyalty tests” for the military brass and and that the firings “make us less safe and weaken our position across the globe.”

Last week, Trump fired Gen. Timothy Haugh, director of the country’s electronic intelligence gathering National Security Agency and head of the US Cyber Command, along with his deputy, Wendy Noble, and six staff members of the White House National Security Council.

Alarmingly, the latest firings followed a White House meeting at which right-wing conspiratorialist Laura Loomer presented Trump with a document charging that the officials were “disloyal” to Trump. Officials confirmed that one staffer did criticize Trump on social media and another had ties to Republican establishment figures Sens. John McCain and Mitch McConnell, who Trump detests. Not fired was one of Loomer’s top targets, Deputy NSC director Alex Wong, judged disloyal because his wife worked at the Justice Department on the prosecution of Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot participants. Loomer also has implied that Wong has ties to Communist China.

Loomer has accused Haugh of being a “neo-con” and a “war monger” and she denounced Haugh for having been appointed by Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who said that Trump was “fascist to the core” and “the most dangerous to the country.” Loomer also once reposted a charge that 9-11 was “an inside job” perpetrated by the US before acknowledging that the attack was the work of Islamic terrorists.

Trump’s outrages never cease, so we’ll be back with another accounting shortly.