Brokehack Mountain

I wish Trump knew how to quit tariffs. But he wishes no such thing. You may have reacted to the news of the ruling against Trump’s Congress-less tariffs (and the somewhat surprising revelation that two-thirds of our Supreme Court still believes in the separation of powers among branches of government in certain circumstances!) with a sense of relief knowing that some checks and balances are holding. But Donald Trump reacted by attacking the justices who ruled against him and stating, “I have the right to do tariffs.” CNN’s Stephen Collinson: Trump won’t blink on tariffs — because he can’t. “First, he believes in tariffs with evangelical intensity. His faith in them is so intense it blanks out any evidence they are a tax on consumers or that they don’t work … The second reason for Trump’s refusal to bend is that tariffs are a means to his ultimate ends of unfettered presidential authority and rejection of a constitutional system that by design shares power across government.”

+ Trump threatens countries to abide by tariff deals despite Supreme Court decision. The global chaos and confusion, and what sure looks like the latest constitutional crisis, has rattled the hell out of the markets (which have, to date, been in something of a state of denial about how lawlessness, recklessness, and inconsistency might impact the bottom line.)

+ “There are seven separate opinions—and even the Justices who agree with one another are in some ways at odds.” The New Yorker: The Supreme Court’s Complicated Takedown of Trump’s Tariffs. Of course, the bigger question is whether or not Trump, the immune monster that this Frankenstein Scotus created, will abide by the ruling.