Source: RealClearPolitics
by Froma Harrop
“Let’s cut to the chase. Most of Donald Trump’s threats against Ivy League colleges are an attempt to divert attention away from an economy heading into crisis. The trade war is producing economic and foreign policy nightmares. Despite the DOGE show, budget deficits are projected to rise further under Republican rule. The stock market is traumatized. Investors are starting to bail out of U.S. Treasury debt. Recession and possibly stagflation are both forecast. Even Trump’s beloved oil drillers are suffering. The stock of the fracking company once run by Energy Secretary Chris Wright has fallen 43% this year. The U.S. already had ‘energy dominance’ under Joe Biden. Now it faces oversupply. And so Trump has chosen a target associated with the elitism that his MAGA base has come to resent. Better that MAGA fume over those Ivy leftists than plans to cut the Medicaid that so much of the base relies on.” (04/17/25)