More Articles | Free Reports | Premium Services By Bill Bonner, Bonner Private Research President Trump wanted a trade war with the world, and Americans are getting it, good and hard. – Wall Street Journal This in on Thursday... Bloomberg: Trump Vows 200% Tariff on EU Wine, Escalating Trade Tensions President Donald Trump threatened to enact a 200% tariff on European wine, champagne and other alcoholic beverages, the latest escalation in a brewing trade war between the U.S. and the EU. What a wild and ridiculous ride. Whee! The Primary Political Trend is headed down… and taking us down with it. You’ll recall our unwelcome guess: That the real historical role for Donald Trump was not to arrest America’s decline… but to hasten it. That is not to say that Mr. Trump is wrong about everything. The Department of Education should have been abolished long ago; education is a local issue, not a national one. Eliminating wokeism and DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), firing federal employees, etc. – much of what Trump is doing is a pleasure to watch. But it doesn’t do any good to put a new label on the bottle if the wine is bad. After Karine Jean-Pierre, we thought we might have seen the last of the air-head press secretaries at the White House. But no. Irish Times: Tariffs proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump are a “tax cut for Americans,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday at a tense press conference that included her regretting giving a reporter a question. Leavitt briefed reporters when she clashed with an Associated Press reporter who questioned her about Trump's tax cut promises made on the presidential campaign trail. Up is down. War is peace. And a tax increase is now a tax cut. This is sour wine. Yesterday, Trump imposed “tax cuts” all over the world… principally on steel and aluminum. Canadians escaped a doubled levy… after threatening to cut off electricity to New York. Trump accuses Canada of “ripping us off.” But Canada’s tariff protections are generally lower than those of the U.S. No matter. This isn’t science. Or math. It’s politics. And tawdry politics is what we’re talking about today. | Recommended Link | | | | Don’t panic over the recent market volatility… According to legendary investor Louis Navellier, the first 100 days of Trump’s administration could lay the groundwork for the best four-year period for stocks in U.S. history. Click here to see which “Trump stocks” he’s recommending. |  | | What “The People” or the Elites Want An economy either produces what “The People” want… or the elites use politics to get what they want. Typically, there’s a tolerable and fairly reliable middle ground, where the masses don’t mind being ripped off in exchange for the predictability of a stable ruling class. In a free, honest economy, people make money by trading with each other, with exact outcomes largely unforeseeable. In a politicized economy, on the other hand, hustlers make money by gaming government policies. They know exactly who will get the loot. If they are big steel companies, with big steel-workers’ unions, located in “swing states,” for example, they might ask for tariffs… so they can sell their products at higher prices. And in a declining empire, such as the Soviet Union in 1991, the opportunities for grift and self-dealing multiply. The old Soviet Union had resources. They were administered by civil servants – apparatchiks and nomenklatura. Then, when the system imploded, these insiders were able to pick up the pieces and become fabulously rich “oligarchs.” Broadly, the more politics the less real freedom and prosperity. That’s why, when politics is on the rise, the Primary Political Trend is down. But none of the victims of these trade war attacks seems ready to roll over. | Recommended Link | | | | In 2016 Louis Navellier made a big prediction regarding Nvidia’s GPUs… Its stock price was a split-adjusted $1 and went up more than 7,000% at its peak. Don’t miss Louis NEXT BIG Nvidia call. (Plus 6 stocks you need to own before March 20th.) Click here to stream. |  | | Tit for Tat The BBC: Canada's government is announcing how it is hitting back after tariffs of 25% on steel and aluminum imports came into effect [on Thursday] morning. The three government ministers are expected to say Canada will impose more than $20bn in retaliatory tariffs. Canada is the biggest foreign supplier of steel and aluminium to the United States. The EU says it will strike back with countermeasures on $28 billion worth of U.S. goods… putting tariffs on “everything from bourbon to motorbikes.” “We deeply regret these measures,” said Ursula von der Leyen. “Tariffs are a tax. They are bad for business. And worse for consumers.” China says it will take “all measures necessary” to protect its interests. Antagonizing allies as well as enemies? What is the point? Whatever the aim, the result will probably weaken the old empire, turning it into a friendless pariah – raising consumer prices while making domestic industries less competitive and more in need of political protection. And as the empire declines, so does the real value of its capital assets. Look for continued, long-term, drift downward in both the Primary Political Trend (more politics)… and the Primary Market Trend (lower asset prices, in gold). Regards, Bill Bonner Bonner Private Research | 
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