The Witness Chronicles, 4/27/25

Whiplash, Trump-style

Photo by Oren Elbaz on Unsplash

Kneejerk Markets Chase Kneejerk President

How foolish they both are

Donald Trump may be the worst negotiator on the planet. That’s because he has no self control and panics easily despite his boisterous bragging about nonexistent victories. In just one day, as markets tanked again, he announced tariffs against Chinese goods would be lowered and that he would not fire Fed Chair Powell after bitterly complaining about the lack of movement on interest rates and calling him stupid.

The China announcement came as China showed zero interest in negotiations and made no motions towards any deal making. So, of course Trump was the first to flinch but it is completely unclear what he is actually doing and it appears his economic team has no idea either.

Now he claims Xi called him to start trade talks but there is zero evidence that has happened and the Chinese spokesperson denied anything was happening. So, now we just make up calls from the leader of China? Trump also claimed there were two hundred deals in progress, again with no evidence whatsoever.

Ok, full stop. I am totally sick of chronicling this nonsense. So why do I do it?

It’s simple. This nonsense is anything but. It’s dead serious in its consequences and the markets should know better. But honestly the day to day markets are basically stupid too, reacting to every little nuance of Trump’s completely un-nuanced behavior and every nonsensical proclamation.

The fluctuations are driving economists and investors nuts but they have a general direction and it is sharply down since the inauguration. Seasoned traders look at the longer trends in super choppy markets like the Trump markets.

Those sharp up and down moves are the normal effect of day trading, which is essentially gambling. But they differ from typical ups and downs in their scale, reflecting a panicked market wracked by uncertainty as Trump’s ‘policies’ change by the hour.

Trump’s polling on immigration, his strongest issue, has started going negative as Americans are worried about his flaunting of the law and threats to deport citizens to foreign prisons. We’re hearing more and more examples and the courts are starting to play hardball to stop it.

Trump desperately needs a winning issue and it appears he is losing his best prospect. The constant lying about trade deals reflects that desperation as voters get fed up with rising prices while watching the Republican Congress trying to once again pass huge tax cuts for the very wealthy, though they cannot (will not) say how they will pay for them.

It appears that not one Trump policy or action is working for the good of the public or our economy. Even Defense, always a strong issue for the right, is in disarray with Pete Hegseth in full panic mode after stunning security breaches and staff in full rebellion.

The question I wonder about is Defence readiness if an unexpected military action is required. Hegseth and Trump have gutted much of the highly experienced leadership mainly because they were women or people of color, not because those moves make us better warfighters, Hegseth’s macho catchphrase for an all white, male military. It is said that he is screaming at staff and leadership behind the closed doors of the Pentagon, completely unable to control himself, with everything someone else’s fault.

He is sacking people left and right, and has lost all his senior advisors, including chief of staff and deputy chief of staff. Today we learned he is firing most of the advisory committees created to help Pentagon leadership make decisions in critical areas outside of their personal expertise and experience.

The obvious conclusion here is that Hegseth, much like Trump, cannot surround himself with competence due to extreme personal insecurity. He knows he is in over his head so he is lashing out, another overgrown spoiled child making his own rules.

We are approached the 100th day of this administration and the collective incompetence is beyond anything anyone has ever seen or likely will see in the Executive Branch. An economy in flames, Americans being arrested with no due process, a global trade war, and markets roiled by overwhelming confusion as Trump’s every action creates more chaos.

Quite an achievement in just one hundred days, and no imaginable way to fix any of this. Even worse, no indication anyone is even trying.

Now we have learned that the DOJ ordered a state judge in Milwaukee arrested for allegedly helping an illegal facing petty charges escape ICE agents in the courthouse. That sounds bad until you delve into the details and it becomes obvious the judge is being harassed as a warning to other judges that rule against Trump.

It is exactly the same tactic he has used to strike fear into members of his own party who speak out, but those thuggish threats are losing their power. FBI director Kash Patel posted news of the judge being detained on X, then almost immediately deleted it. Then AG Pam Bondi appeared on Fox to threaten judges all around the country.

As is typical, these actions are obviously retribution, but so poorly executed that they cannot hold up to close examination. I find it interesting that these people never seem to consider trying to do anything by the book and on the up and up. Their book is very short and calls for absolute fealty to King Trump, no matter how career-destroying his orders may be.

Again, broken record, the Trump followers never think ahead, even when their own future is at stake. That may ultimately be their downfall in the long term.

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