Once again, Trump is out here playing three-dimensional chess while all of you keep guessing, panic selling your stocks, and listening to lazy, hysterical media narratives. He advertises "reciprocal tariffs" for over a month, then comes out with much higher rates to shock the other countries into submission. Dozens come calling, begging for a deal. He says he is rewarding those who want to play ball (deals will come over the next few months), and now China (the worst offender) is cast out on an island all alone. The is entirely about the US vs. China, which will be the real battle in geopolitics over the next 50 years. Trump is trying to level the playing field before, in his terms, it gets too late and then we "don't have the cards." It all goes hand in hand with nailing down rare earth minerals in Ukraine (Xi/China may eventually restrict access as a play in this tit for tat) and his positioning on Greenland (strategic Arctic location). Brilliant strategy on the part of the president.
If you really want to understand what's going on, read the Art of the Deal and listen to Bessent. He has been telegraphing everything the administration wants to do. Lutnick, Elon, Navarro are distractions for the most part.
