The Statism of Donald Trump

0:00The Statism of Donald Trump. By Lou Rockwell, many libertarians hope that Donald Trump would favor many free market policies. The claim by these libertarians was that aside from obvious exceptions like eminent domain and tariffs, he was basically sympathetic to the free market. Unfortunately, these hopes have not been fulfilled and in this week's article, I'll try to ship this. Before going ahead though, I'd like to avert a possible misunderstanding. The issue we have to deal with is Trump's policy, not whether he was a marginally more acceptable choice for president than his Democratic party opponent, the woke Kamala Harris. Many people regarded her as a repellent figure, but to reiterate this isn't our topic. I mentioned obvious deviations like tariffs,

1:03but the fact that a deviation is obvious doesn't address the question of how serious the deviation is. And as the great Ron Ones points out, the deviation is very serious indeed. His outrageous liberation day tariffs were announced on April 2nd, but it would have been far more appropriate for them to have been released on April Fool's Day. The gigantic international tariffs that he imposed apparently based upon personal whim were quickly retracted a few days later, but then regularly restored, raised and lowered over and over again during the month that followed. Not only was this the most bizarre sequence of massive international tax changes on trillions of dollars of goods that the world had ever seen, but all of it was a total violation of American constitutional law.

2:05Across thousands of years, the world has seen many important countries ruled by absolute monarchs or all powerful dictators with some of these leaders even considered deranged. But I can't recall any past example in which a major nation's tax tariff or tribute policies have undergone such rapid and sudden changes moving up and down by huge amounts apparently based upon personal whim. Certainly, Caligula never did anything so peculiar. Nor Louis XIV, nor Genghis Khan, nor anyone else who comes to mind. Lopping off the heads of a few random government officials was one thing, but drastic changes in national financial policies were generally taken much more seriously. I don't think that Tamerlane ever suddenly raised the tribute he demanded

3:05from his terrified subjects by a factor of 10, then a few days later lowered it back down by a factor of two. Trump is also an ardent inflationist. He says a criterion for the new chair of the Fed is that the choice must favor lowering interest rates. We know from Austrian business cycle theory that this will generate an artificial boom that must eventually crash and cause a depression. According to the New York Times, this is what Trump said. President Trump said on Tuesday that he wanted the next chair of the federal reserve to lower interest rates if financial markets are doing well rather than raising borrowing costs to temper any investor exuberance. The Fed sets interest rates with an aim to foster a healthy labor market and maintain low stable inflation,

4:09but it also keeps a close eye on financial stability risks. In a social media post on Tuesday, Trump, who is in the process of selecting the next chair, said that the Fed should not kill rallies which could lift our nation by 10, 15, and even 20 GDP points in a year and maybe even more than that. Trump added, anybody that disagrees with me will never be the Fed chairman. The free market should never be confused with crony capitalism, a system of government business partnership studied by Hunter Lewis and Sean Ritenauer, among others, in which the government owns or subsidizes corrupt corporations for their mutual profit at the expense of the public. Trump has pursued this policy to unprecedented lengths. As the economic historian Adam Tuz has pointed out,

5:13when President Trump ran for re-election in 2024, he and his family already had vast business interests, stretching from Manhattan office towers to a golf course in Ireland to hotel deals as 2024 far away is Vietnam. The president's second term has brought a major expansion of that empire with forays into cryptocurrency, communications, financial products, and now a fusion power deal. Ventures launched since Trump's re-election generated at least $4 billion in proceeds and paper wealth for the family as of December according to company statements and securities filings. It's unprecedented for a president to have such far-reaching business interests while in office, including in areas where the administration regulates. Let's turn to the issue the great Murray Rothbard thought

6:15was the most important of all, war or peace. In his view, it's almost always better to preserve peace rather than go to war. For this reason, America should follow a policy of non-intervention in conflicts that don't involve a direct invasion or the immediate threat of one. Trump's policy is the opposite of this. He seeks to establish American hegemony all over the world. Professor Jeffrey Sachs, a renowned authority on national security whose advice is sought by many foreign governments, says, the 2025 national security strategy NSS recently released by President Donald Trump presents itself as a blueprint for renewed American strength. It is dangerously misconceived in four ways. First, the NSS is anchored in grandiosity.

7:16The belief that the United States enjoys unmatched supremacy in every key dimension of power. Second, it is based on a starkly Machiavellian view of the world, treating other nations as instruments to be manipulated for American advantage. Third, it rests on a naive nationalism that dismisses international law and institutions as incumbrances on U.S. sovereignty rather than as frameworks that enhance U.S. and global security together. Fourth, it signals a thuggery in Trump's use of the CIA and military. Within days of the NSS's publication, the U.S. brazenly seized the tanker carrying Venezuelan oil on the high seas on the flimsy grounds if the vessel had previously violated U.S. sanctions against Iran. Why do we have the right to impose sanctions against Iran

8:17or punish nations that don't accept them? Professor Sacks goes on, the seizure was not a defensive measure to avert an imminent threat. Nor is it remotely legal to seize vessels on the high seas because of unilateral U.S. sanctions only the UN Security Council has such authority. Instead, the seizure is an illegal act designed to force regime change in Venezuela. It follows Trump's declaration that he has directed the CIA to carry out covert operations inside Venezuela to destabilize the regime. American security will not be strengthened by acting like a bully. It will be weakened structurally, morally, and strategically. A great power that frightens its allies, coerces its neighbors, and disregards international rules ultimately isolates itself.

9:20The NSS, in other words, is not just an exercise in hubris-on paper. It is rapidly being translated into brazen practice. The last, but not least, let's not forget the shocking inhumanity shown by Trump and his minion secretary of war, Hexath, and their barbarous killing of two survivors of a drone attack on their flimsy boat. War is almost always bringing atrocities with them. And unfortunately, Trump's war on Venezuela is no exception. According to an account published by the Washington Post on November 28, as two men clung to a stricken burning ship targeted by SEAL Team 6, the Joint Special Operations Commander followed the Defense Secretary's order to leave no survivors. The longer the US surveillance aircraft followed the boat, the more confident intelligence analysts

10:22watching from command centers became that the 11 people on board were ferrying drugs. Defense Secretary Pete Hexath gave a spoken directive according to two people with direct knowledge of the operation. The order was to kill everybody, one of them said. A missile screamed off the Trinidad coast, striking the vessel and igniting a blaze from bow to stern. For minutes, commanders watched the boat burning on a live drone feed. As the smoke cleared, they got a jolt. Two survivors were clinging to the smoldering wreck. Hexath's order, which has not been previously reported, adds another dimension to the campaign against suspected drug traffickers. People were aghast at this barbarous display. And in response, the Trump administration put out a transparently lame excuse.

11:25It tried to shift the blame to the Admiral in charge of the operation. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he would not have warned a sick and strike on the boat and said Hexath denied giving such an order. But White House spokeswoman Caroline Levitt said on Monday that Hexath had authorized Admiral Frank Bradley to conduct the strikes on September 2nd. Secretary Hexath authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes. Admiral Bradley worked well within his authority and the law directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated, Levitt said. Levitt said the strike was conducted in self-defense to protect US interests, took place in international waters and was in line with the law of armed conflict.

12:26This administration has designated these narco terrorists as foreign terrorist organizations, Levitt said. Starting in September, the US military has carried out at least 19 strikes against suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean and off the Pacific coast of Latin America, killing at least 76 people, blowing up people who are clinging to a boat so that they won't drown its cowardly and dastardly. Oh, only those utterly without a conscience could do such a thing. Let's do everything we can to promote a genuine free market and peace as Murray Rothbard has taught us. Let's reject the stateism of Donald Trump. For more content like this visit mises.org.