Source: The Atlantic
by Yair Rosenberg
“Throughout his 2024 run, the president promised Americans a return to the prosperity of his pre-COVID first term. ‘Starting on day one, we will end inflation and make America affordable again, to bring down the prices of all goods,’ he told a Montana rally in August. ‘They’ll come down, and they’ll come down fast,’ he declared days later in North Carolina. But at the same time, Trump also promised to impose steep tariffs on consumer goods …. These two pledges could not be reconciled, and once elected, Trump was forced to choose between them. … On issue after issue, whether domestic policy or foreign affairs, the president made incompatible assurances to rival camps on the campaign trail …. Now that Trump is in office, the bill for these guarantees is coming due, and he is making decisions that will inevitably alienate one of his constituencies.” (05/08/25)